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UNIVERSITY 

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Treasure 'Room 


CASOA  LLAKNA: 

(GOOD  NEWS.) 

LOVE,    WOMAN,    MARRIAGE: 

THE  GRAND  SECEET ! 

A  BOOK  FOR  THE   HEARTFUL. 


"  But  our  true  nature  is  in  our  thoughts,  not  our  deeds :    And,  therefore,  in  hooks 
—  which  are  his  thoughts  —  the  author's  character  lies  hare  to  the  discerning  eye." 

—  BCLWIB. 

FOURTH  EDITIOK. 


BOSTON : 

1872. 


ST  0 

MY  DEAD  MOTHEE,  —  God  bless  her!  — whom  I  never  knew  — for 
when  she  died  I  was  but  a  babe  —  but  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  the 
Courage,  Love,  and  Manhood  in  me !  —  courage  to  breast  the  fiercest  storm 
and  to  strike  for  the  Eight !  —  love  to  God  and  all  human  kind,  and 
manhood  to  do  and  say  the  right  and  true  thing,  no  matter  who  or  what 
assailed  me :  and  to  all  other  women  the  wide  world  over,  who  believe 
that  Virtue  is  not  a  sham,  nor  God  a  delusion  —  to  all  who  believe 
Marriage  to  be  a  Sacred  Institution,  founded  by  the  Creator  for  Human 
Good ;  and  to  all  who  are  opposed  to  whatever  antagonizes  the  True, 
the  Beautiful,  and  the  Good, 

THIS     WORK 

te  dedicated  by 

(Khiscx   Elitttnz. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1872,  by 

RANDOLPH  PUBLISHING  COMPANY, 

In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


PREFACE    A. 


Young  Mr.  Gumbs  undertook  to  start  a  paper  out  in  Cambria  county  a 
short  time  ago.  He  called  it  the  Cambria  Milky  Way.  He  said,  in  his 
prospectus,  that  he  intended  to  make  the  Milky  Way  lively,  spicy,  vigor- 
ous, fearless,  and  entertaining ;  and  he  did.  In  the  first  number  he  called 
the  editor  of  the  rival  paper  "a  diabolical  liar,  an  unmitigated  scoundrel, 
and  a  remorseless  assassin."  He  alluded  to  the  Mayor,  in  a  cheerful  para- 
graph, as  "  a  corrupt  magistrate,  whose  torments  from  the  remorse  which 
festered  in  his  soul  were  only  surpassed  by  the  physical  agony  which  is 
always  the  punishment  of  the  depraved  and  riotous  debauchee."  He 
soothed  the  feelings  of  the  postmaster  with  the  remark  that  "the  pecula- 
tions of  this  official  Dick  Turpin  can  be  compared  to  nothing  but  the  ter- 
rific robberies  committed  in  the  past  by  those  dastardly  Spanish  bucca- 
neers, whom  he  so  closely  resembles  in  general  character."  He  announced, 
under  the  head  of  "  Social  Gossip,"  that  a  certain  young  man  had  been 
rejected  the  evening  before  by  the  lady  of  his  love,  and  volunteered  the 
information  that  it  was  "  the  wisest  thing  she  could  have  done  under  the 
peculiar  circumstances ;  "  and  he  related  how,  upon  the  preceding  day,  he 
heard  another  youth,  named  Alexander  Jones,  remark  to  a  friend  that, 
"if  anything  will  make  a  man  feel  juicy  about  the  heart,  it  is  to  talk  vel- 
vet to  a  pair  of  sky-colored  eyes,  by  moonlight,  in  a  clover  field."  The 
next  edition  of  the  paper  was  not  issued  at  the  regular  time.  Finally 
some  copies  were  sent  out  over  the  town  in  balloons,  and  they  contained 
these  editorial  remarks :  "  The  editor  has  found  it  impossible  to  go  out 
to-day  to  hunt  for  news  items,  because  the  Mayor,  and  the  editor  of  the 
Times,  and  the  postmaster,  and  Alexander  Jones,  and  a  number  of  other 
individuals,  whose  names  we  have  not  been  able  to  learn,  have  been  sitting 


IV  PREFACE    A. 

on  the  curbstone  and  roosting  round  on  the  back  fence  all  the  morning 
with  shot-guns  and  other  murderous  weapons,  and  looking  as  if  they  were 
in  earnest.  We  give  notice  here  that  we  have  moved  the  fire-proof  safe 
against  the  door  of  our  sanctum,  and  have  lined  the  front  stairs  with 
spring-guns,  cross-eyed  Irishmen,  and  insane  bull-terriers,  who  have  not 
been  fed  for  a  week.  The  privileges  of  a  free  press  shall  not  be  interfered 
with  while  we  wield  a  pen  or  possess  a  bull-dog."  The  Milky  Way,  how- 
ever, died  next  day,  Mr.  Gumbs  having  slid  down  the  water-spout  and 
taken  the  early  train  for  Kansas. 

And  so,  too,  not  every  one  knows  how  to  edit  a  family,  and  come  out  of 
the  trial  right  side  up  with  care.  Often  they,  after  repeated  experiments, 
come  off  even  worse  than  did  Mr.  Gumbs.  Well,  here  is  a  book  contain- 
ing THE  GRAND  SECRET,  and  he  or  she  who  reads  it  understanding^, 
will  find  the  Road  to  Happiness  ;  be  able  to  detect  the  counterfeit,  appre- 
ciate the  true  and  real,  and  say  with  those  who  have  read  it,  "  This  is  the 
Greatest  and  Best  Book  on  Human  Love,  that  ever  fell  from  mortal 
pen." 

Glorious  John  Brougham,  in  his  play,  "The  Dark  Hour  Before  Dawn," 
hits  the  truth  exactly,  when  he,  in  speaking  of  Women  as  not  being 
queens,  precisely,  says  :  "  They  are,  as  they  always  were,  and  always  will 
be,  secret  agents,  advisers  and  instigators,  darling  creatures  and  affec- 
tionate institutions  generally,  but  in  and  through  all,  fhe  absolute  and 
irresistible  movers  of  circumstances,  the  unseen  influences  that  work  the 
world's  machinery,  while  the  befooled,  self-satisfied  lesser  half  flatters 
himself  that  it's  all  his  doing. "  And  John  Brougham  was  right .'  And  also 
when  he  says  :  "It  is  sad  that  one  should  forget  even  in  thought  or  for  a 
single  instant,  that  the  unerring  hand  holds  the  balance,  and  howsoever 
the  world's  tempest  may  assault  the  truthful  heart,  it  must  iu  time  out- 
ride the  6torm." 

Harriet . 


PREFACE    B. 


Sad,  sad,  are  they  who  know  not  love, 

But,  far  from  passion's  tears  and  smiles, 
Drift  down  a  moonless  sea,  and  pass 

The  silvery  coasts  of  faery  isles. 

But  sadder  they,  whose  longing  lips 

Kiss  empty  air,  and  never  touch 
The  dear  warm  mouth  of  those  they  love,  — 

Waiting,  wasting,  suffering  much. 

But  clear  as  amber,  sweet  as  musk, 

Is  life  to  those  whose  lives  unite ! 
They  bask  in  Allah's  smile  by  day, 

And  nestle  in  His  heart  by  night. 

—  The  Song  of  Fatima. 

Thus  sang  she.  Thus  singeth  every  true  soul.  And  to  tell  the  world 
where  to  find  the  music,  and  how  to  pitch  the  eternal  tune,  is  the  object  of 
this  book  from  the  soul  and  pen  of — 

Casca  Llanna. 


PREFACE    C. 


THE  HEART  SONG. 


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2d  Interlude. 


2  Love  me  when  the  sun  is  flashing 

Rippling  seas  of  love  and  light ; 
Love  me  when  his  beams  are  dashing 

Death  to  darkness  and  to  night ; 
Love  me  gently,  truly,  sweetly; 
Love  me  nobly,  and  completely. 

3  Love  me  in  the  eventide, 

"When  God's  starry  eyes  look  down ; 
Or  tempests  on  the  air  shall  ride, 

And  threat'ning  storms  in  anger  frown ; 
Then  draw  me  gently  to  thy  breast, 
And  soothe  my  timid  soul  to  rest. 

4  Love  me  when  my  cheek  is  fading, 

And  my  sparkling  eyes  grow  dim ; 
And  flecks  of  gray  my  hair  are  shading, — 

My  form  no  longer  lithe  and  trun ; 
Love  me  when  no  longer  young, — 
End  the  race  as  you  began. 


CASCA    LLANNA. 


CHAPTER  I. 

"The  Time,  the  Place  —  ah,  woe  is  me 
That  change  like  this  on  earth  should  be  !  " 

Vive  L' amour!  And  flourish  true,  and  perish  false,  affec- 
tion !  The  theme  is  Love  !  The  grand  master  of  us  all ;  the 
tyrant  who  rules  us  with  a  strong  hand,  yet  the  slavery  to 
whom,  is  the  most  delicious  bondage  ever  known. 

Love  is  not  the  gay  and  festive  thing  a  great  many  are  apt, 
too  hastily,  to  imagine ;  for  of  all  things  else  whatever,  in 
human  experience,  it  is  the  most  serious  and  solemn. 

Three  general  aims  in  life  are  before  us  all,  and  for  the 
gaining  of  which  all  strive  alike,  with  might,  main  and  patience. 
These  are  "Wealth,  Power,  Love.  To  safely  secure  the  first  is 
often  to  defeat  the  grand  end  and  aim  of  life,  —  Happiness. 
To  achieve  the  second  is  often  to  be  bound,  chained,  im- 
prisoned, limited,  become  dissatisfied ;  to  gain  them  both  is  to 
quench  a  thirst,  with  thirst-producing  waters  !  To  achieve  the 
third  is  bliss  indeed.  To  fail  is  death,  incompleteness,  per- 
petual unrest. 

It  is  only  when  some  great  calamity  and  agony  has  whelmed 
us  ;  after  some  mighty  grief  has  befallen  us  ;  after  some  terrible 
tempest  of  the  heart  has  swept  relentlessly  over  us,  that  we 
become  capable  of  receiving  great  truths  from  Beyond,  and  of 
bearing  a  lofty  message  to  mankind  ! 

It  is  only  when  our  own  souls  are,  or  have  been,  racked  with 
tortures  and  sufferings,  ourselves  can  only  know,  that  we 
become   capable   of  justly   appreciating   the   wretchedness   of 


10  WOMAN,    LOVE*    AND   MARRIAGE. 

others ;  comprehending  the  real  meaning  of  the  word  Sympa- 
thy, and  of  exercising  charity  and  compassion.  And  so,  now, 
the  writer  of  this  gives  the  light  and  truth  from  out  of  the 
depths,  to  those  who  need  it  —  the  teeming  thousands  of  the 
lands,  —  men  and  women,  everywhere,  and  of  all  races,  ages, 
languages,  and  climes,  because,  in  heart-matters,  all  are  on  an 
equal  footing,  and  all  alike,  from  the  hutless  miner  to  the 
crowned  king,  are  subjects  of,  and  sadly  listen  to,  the  story 
of  love.  To  open  an  hitherto  unexplored  field  of  this,  the 
master  passion,  and  make  all  wiser  who  read  the  book,  is  why 
the  book  is  written. 

Of  course  it  is  not  intended  herein  either  to  relate  a  series  of 
love-adventures,  special  incidents,  deluge  the  reader  with 
medical  bosh,  or  in  any  way  pander  to  a  corrupt  taste  or  morbid 
appetite.  Far  from  it.  The  book  has  an  infinitely  higher, 
better,  nobler  end  to  achieve.  It  is  proposed  to  present  the 
crystallized  result  of  a  life's  experience  and  observations,  —  a 
life  which,  as  all  who  know  the  author  are  aware,  has  been 
one  of  very  strange  and  varied  character  —  in  an  hundred 
respects. 

The  book  is  not  given  as  a  warning  either,  but  solely  as  the 
insight  of  the  onlook.  The  diamonds  of  absolute  knowledge 
and  truth  are  there ;  and  it  is  believed  the  work  will  leave  the 
reader  better,  truer,  nobler,  and  wiser  than  it  found  him  or 
her. 

Probably  this  is  the  third  attempt  ever  made,  —  both  the 
former  ones  by  the  same  writer,  —  to  follow  the  Grand  Passion 
into  its  very  crypts,  and  from  out  the  glimmer,  hold  the  torch 
to  light  others  on  their  wearisome  way  at  best ;  to  pilot  them 
off  the  shoals  into  deep  water,  and  smoother  seas ;  above  all, 
to  show  the  difference  between  the  seeming  and  the  real. 

Love  has  a  tragical,  as  well  as  a  serio-comic  side ;  and  the 
victims  of  the  tragedy  side  far  outnumber  the  laughers  on  the 
gay  one. 

Tragedy  in  love?  Ay!  even  when  it  is  true  and  real,  for 
not  a  few  of  us  strangely  delight  in  fearfully  torturing  the  very 
ones  we'd  die  for  ! 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  11 

It  need  not  be  said  that  this  work  is  written  in  the  direct 
interests  of  the  conservative  side  of  human  society,  and  of  the 
great  impending  reaction  against  the  false  and  perilous  notions 
of  love,  and  social  life,  and  polity,  which  now  taint  every 
breath  we  draw,  and  which  for  many,  long  under  the  lead  of 
bad  women  and  worse  men,  have  not  only  corrupted  the  general 
morals,  but  poisoned  the  public  mind  and  seared  its  con- 
science ;  for  that  will  appear  at  every  step  taken ;  but  it  is 
essential  to  state  that  the  book  purposes  to  inaugurate  that 
reaction,  and  engage  in  a  combat  a  Voutrance,  with  the  loose 
philosophers  and  philosophies,  till  they  are  all  driven  to  the 
wall,  and  virtue  has  a  hearing,  so  long  denied  her. 

What  a  spectacle  is  presented  in  our  day,  wherein  shameless 
courtesans  aspire  to  the  leadership  of  Women,  and  pestilent 
libertines  don  the  mantle  of  Philosophy,  wherein  to  delude 
mankind,  and  in  effect  make  society  one  huge  lazar-house  of 
corruption,  desolation,  and  ruin  total  and  complete  ! 

In  this  age  of  pseudo-philosophical  knight-errantry,  wherein 
every  dabster  in  logic  feels  justified  in  running  a  tilt  at  all  the 
human  virtues,  outraging  Christian  propriety  and  decency, — 
attempting  to  dethrone  the  very  God  of  heaven  from  the  uni- 
verse, —  a  corrective  is  needed,  and  with  that  view  the  volume 
is  issued  in  behalf  of  truth,  civilization,  healthy  philosophy, 
and  sound  morals ;  for  it  is  no  mere  literary  enterprise  on  the 
writer's  part.  From  the  deeps  of  his  soul  this  book  is  born. 
The  inspiring  motive  will  presently  appear. 

Not  all  that  could  have  been  given  to  the  world  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  current  book  has  been  given  in  other  works  allied 
thereto  from  the  same  pen,  already  afloat  on  the  sea  of  litera- 
ture in  this  and  other  lands,  mainly  because  intense  suffering, 
since  experienced,  had  not  then  developed  the  clearness  of 
perception  essential,  nor  the  courage  to  boldly  throw  down 
the  gauntlet  to  the  entire  herd  of  so-called  "  philosophers"  and 
pseudo-reformers,  and  to  carry  the  war  straight  home  to  the 
enemy's  camp.  These  essentials  now  exist,  and  a  change  has 
been  wrought  in  the  author's  mind  respecting  many  points  of 


12  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

the  general  topic,  and  what  was  not  previously  said  will  now 
have  free  scope  without  fear  or  favor. 

There  are  two  sphinxes  in  the  world ;  one  of  them  the  author 
has  gazed  at  for  long  hours,  vainly  trying  to  read  the  stupen- 
dous mystery  of  its  calm  and  ultra-human  countenance,  as  it  so 
strangely,  quietly,  sits  there  in  such  awful  and  solemn  state 
upon  the  plateau  of  old  stone-founded  Ghizeh,  hard  by  the 
great  Pyramid  of  Egypt,  almost  within  ear-shot  of  the  stilly, 
quietly  gliding  waters  of  old  Nile,  as  he  majestically,  in  lordly 
mood,  sweeps  on  in  his  passage  to  the  sea,  from  Dongola  and 
the  far-off  Negro  land ;  over  the  rocks  of  Elephanta,  by  the 
grave  of  Him  who  sleeps  in  Philse,  past  old  Dendera,  Aznak, 
Karnac,  Thebes,  and  Luxor  ;  rolling  like  sheeted  silver  past  the 
site  of  ruined  Memphis ;  laughing  gayly  as  he  glides  past 
Rhoda,  where  the  king's  daughter  found  the  bulrush  basket, 
wherein  slept  that  wondrous  child  who  afterwards  gave  laws  to 
Jewiy  and  wrote  his  name  in  iron  letters  on  the  pages  of  the 
world's  great  history ;  and  gliding  still,  by  many  a  crook  and 
turn,  at  last  finds  his  passage  to  the  greater  waters  through  a 
hundred  mouths  out  through  the  Desert's  greenery  ;  for  old 
Zahara,  like  the  worst  and  roughest  man,  has  bright  and  good 
spots  here  and  there,  mute,  but  powerful  proofs  that  God  does 
smile,  even  when  he  seems  to  wear  the  sternest  frown. 

Comparatively  few  people  in  the  world  have  beheld  that 
Sphinx.  It  is  made  of  stone,  modelled  after  some  mighty 
thought  in  some  mighty  mind,  in  a  mighty  age ;  and  has 
silently  sitten  there  alone,  staring  at  the  centuries  as,  in  long 
lines,  they  swept  by.  Still  nearly  every  one  can  comprehend 
the  nature  of  the  material,  if  not  the  weird  meaning  of  the 
symbol. 

The  other  and  infinitely  more  marvellous  and  complex 
Sphinx  is  a  multi-millioned  one,  and  a  riddle  so  deep  that  com- 
pared to  which  the  one  of  stone  on  Ghizeh's  plain  is  the  merest 
child's  play.  This  sphinx  is  found  everywhere,  seen  at  all 
times,  places,  seasons,  ages ;  is  talked  to,  with,  at,  and  about, 
by  everybody ;  but  is  understood,  comprehended,  fathomed, 
only  by  the   everlasting,   omniscient   God !     Her  name  is  — 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE.  13 

Woman  !  Whoever  can  define  her  can  go  at  once  to  the  head 
of  the  class.  The  quality  of  mere  sex  is  the  least  mystery 
about  her ;  a  mere  point  in  the  outspread  sky  of  Femininity. 
She  is  a  million  affirmatives,  with  a  flat  denial  back  of  every  one 
of  them  ;  a  straightforward  fact,  with  just  as  straight  a  contradic- 
tion, looking  at  the  same  time  out  of  the  same  identical  eyes  ; 
vehement  fire  and  Nova  Zembla  ice  dwelling  together,  and 
not  only  coming  to  the  surface  alternately,  but  both  at  once  ; 
two  mountains  without  a  valley  between  them ;  an  irresistible 
force  and  an  immovable  body  contacting  each  other  in  the 
same  person,  at  one  and  the  same  time ;  a  vast  bundle  of  direct 
antagonisms  dwelling  harmoniously  together ;  the  north  and 
south  poles  striking  hands.  All  she  has  proved  herself  to  be 
in  any  given  direction  is  but  the  faintest  index  prophetic®  to 
an  exhaustless  volume  of  capabilities,  possibilities,  ay,  and 
probabilities  too,  unimagined  by  others,  undreamed  of  even  by 
herself. 

Heine,  the  German  poet,  probably  smarting  under  the  lash 
of  one  of  these  sphinxes,  has  left  some  rather  sharp  lines  about 
the  sex,  yet  lines  conveying  too  unwelcome  truths.  Said  he, 
regarding  "  A  Woman  :  "  — 


"  They  loved  each  other  beyond  belief; 
The  woman  a  rogue  was,  the  man  was  a  thief; 
At  each  piece  of  knavery,  daily 
She  fell  on  the  bed  —  laughing  gayly. 

"In  joy  and  pleasure  they  passed  the  day; 
Upon  his  bosom  all  night  she  lay ; 
"When  they  took  him  to  the  Old  Bailey 
At  the  window  she  stood  —  laughing  gayly. 

"  He  sent  her  this  message :  Oh,  come  to  me, 
I  yearn,  my  love,  so  greatly  for  thee ; 
I  want  thee,  I  pine,  and  look  palely; 
Her  head  she  but  shook  —  laughing  giyly. 

"  At  six  in  the  morning  they  hanged  the  knave ; 
At  seven  they  laid  him  down  in  his  grave ; 


14  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MAIiltlAGE. 

At  eight  on  her  ears  this  news  fell  stately  — 
And  a  bumper  she  took  —  laughing  gayly." 

Prior  to  the  occurrences  which  inspired  the  present  task,  the 
writer  hereof  had  devoted  much  attention  to  the  study  of  the 
grand  complex  human  enigma,  Woman,  and  believed  the  solution 
to  have  been  triumphantly  reached,  when  a  circumstance  oc- 
curred, the  effect  of  which  was  to  entirely  rid  him  of  that 
dangerous  conceit. 

One  day  there  came  into  the  author's  rooms  a  venal  and  a  vil- 
lanous  negro,  whose  presence  was  insufferable  by  reason  of  his 
moral  filth,  and  utter  lack  of  even  the  primary  elements  of 
manhood.  To  get  rid  of  the  fellow,  some  of  the  writer's  books 
were  given  him.  These  he  took  to  the  place  where  he  served 
as  Jack-of-all-work,  and  boasting  of  his  present,  displayed  them 
to  a  woman  —  no  —  but  a  sphinx,  who  earned  a  portion  of  her 
bread  in  the  same  establishment.  The  result  of  her  reading 
was  that  she  visited  the  author.  An  acquaintance  sprung  up, 
that  ripened  into  a  one-sided  affection  —  on  his  part  for  her. 
Another  week,  and  that  affection  became  a  terrible  and  ve- 
hement fascination.  To  that  woman  the  reading  world,  in  a 
great  measure,  is  indebted  not  only  for  this  book,  but  for  the 
most  prodigious  change  of  view  and  advancement  in  the  realms 
and  energizing  of  the  Power  of  Thought,  he  had  eyer  known  in 
ten  times  the  period.  After  all,  things  are  balanced  in  this 
world  could  we  only  but  see  it ;  and  in  this  case,  although  that 
strange  woman,  that  cool,  conscienceless,  sinister,  thin-lipped, 
blue-eyed,  affectional  sorceress  —  not  in  its  vilest  sense  — 
brought  havoc  and  hades  in  her  train,  yet  a  glorious  power  was 
born  of  the  agony,  and  but  for  La  Blondette  this  book  had 
never  seen  the  light ;  for  she  practically  taught  him  more 
about  woman,  more  of  the  unfathomable  profundities  of  wo- 
manine  nature  of  all  sorts,  in  six  brief  weeks,  than  had  pre- 
viously been  learned  in  many  long  years  of  unremitting  study, 
observations,  analogies,  and  experience,  in  all  lands,  with  all 
peoples,  and  under  every  variety  of  circumstances,  and  favor- 


TTO.UAX,    LOVE,   AXD   MAI2MAGE.  15 

able    conditions.      "Why?    Because  she   shook  his   soul  to  its 
foundations  and  brought  new  forces  into  play. 

There's  nothing  like  love,  —  or  what  passes  current  under 
that  name,  and  is  felt  and  believed  to  be  such,  —  to  shut  one's 
e}*es  most  thoroughly  and  completely,  both  to  one's  own  short- 
comings and  weaknesses  of  character,  and  to  those  of  the  object  of 
the  sentiment  and  passion.  There's  nothing  like  the  sudden  loss 
of  it  to  open  them  very  widely  indeed  !  and  then  what  a  rush 
of  new  knowledges  flood  in  upon  the  soul  and  brain !  How 
quickly  one  finds  out  the  sore  spot  in  the  heart,  and  the  soft 
one  in  the  head,  —  as  did  the  writer  of  these  lines,  who  pens 
them,  confessionally,  for  the  loftiest  of  purposes,  and  which  were 
not  achievable  otherwise ;  for  it  is  not  disgraceful  to  acknowl- 
edge having  a  heart,  or  that  said  heart  has  been  warmed  with 
affection  or  scorched  with  wild-fire,  by  a  flame  from  Tartarus. 
When  a  man  or  woman  is  suddenly  flung  out  upon  the  night, 
alone  ;  whirled  like  a  flash  from  the  orbit  and  sphere  of  love ; 
when  one  to  whom  30U  have  given  your  heart,  and  bound  all 
your  hopes  upon,  turns  from  and  bitterly  mocks  your  most 
fearful  pain  and  gayfy  laughs  while  your  heart  is  wrung  and 
bleeding,  — how  quickly  3*011  find  out  just  where  that  heart  is 
situate  ;  that  one  has  a  soul,  and  that  soul  full  of  keenly  sensi- 
tive nerves.  How  quickly  one  develops  feeling ;  learns  what 
companionship  amounts  to,  and  the  priceless  value  of  the  treas- 
ured footsteps  now  gone  forever  and  heard  no  more ;  and  of  the 
voice  whose  beloved  accents  no  longer  fall  in  welcome  music 
upon  the  listening  ear,  sharpset  and  waiting  to  hear  it,  but 
waiting  in  vain  !  Then,  ah,  then,  Ave  begin  to  understand  what 
desolation  means  ;  and  how  utterly  insignificant  are  wealth  and 
its  trappings,  fame  and  its  trumpet,  power  and  its  sceptre, 
ambition  and  its  tires  ;  its  sharp,  quick  throbbing  ;  its  fierce  and 
deep  unrest,  compared  to  the  single  breath  of  love  !  How  dis- 
tasteful are  even  sympathj*  and  condolence  then,  —  when  the 
heart  is  reft  and  lonel}- !  How  utterly  meaningless  is  even  the 
lure  of  human  beauty,  or  mental  power,  music,  art,  philosophy, 
—  everything  but  religion,  when  love  has  left  us  wrecked  and 
stranded  on  the  shore ;  and  even  religion  is  hard  to  think  about 


16  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND    MARRIAGE. 

just  then  !  for  we  are  so  constructed  that  when  we  are  full  of 
a  love-loss,  there's  precious  little  room  for  anything  else.  But 
then  again  it  is  well,  right  here,  to  apply  a  little  common  sense  ; 
for  it  so  happens  that  most  people  so  thoroughly  embalm  a 
supposed  loved  one  in  their  own  sphere,  as  to  imagine  they 
dearly  love  that  other,  when  in  fact  they  are  merely  loving  their 
own  reflected  selves,  and  all  the  love  is  on  one  side  only.  They 
get  moody,  stay  continually  indoors,  keep  away  from  society, 
and  grow  morbid  all  the  time  ;  when  if  they  would  but  stir  out 
and  mingle  with  others,  the  blues  would  soon  take  wing ;  they 
would  find  out  the  utter  worthlessness  of  their  idol,  and  discover 
a  great  many  better  fish  in  the  sea  than  they  ever  caught  out  of 
it ;  for  a  one-sided  love  don't  amount  to  much  at  best,  and  the 
sooner  it  is  shaken  off  the  better !  Let  the  fascinator  go,  for 
the  chances  are  ten  to  one  that  he  or  she  is  not  worth  cultivating 
or  fretting  over.  All  of  us  are  so  constituted  that  we  frequently 
take  an  almost  insane,  certainly  unreasonable,  delight  in  deceiv- 
ing ourselves.  In  the  case  of  one  male  victim,  in  spite  of  a 
large  experience,  nothing  whatever  could  remove  the  impres- 
sion that  he  dearly,  madly  loved  and  adored  a  strange  woman, 
nor  that  she  loved  him  in  return,  when  the  fact  is  that  he  was 
under  a  basilisk,  vampire  spell,  and  she  was  making  a  few  points 
best  known  to  herself ;  and  had  no  more  real  love  for  him  than 
a  tigress  has  for  a  tender  lamb,  except  in  the  devouring 
sense.  The  whole  thing  was  horribly  false,  yet  terribly  real. 
Now  others  are  liable  to  the  self-same  or  co-tangent  experiences, 
and  would  gladly  learn  the  loftier  and  the  better  side  of  love. 
That  they  may,  is  why  the  work  is  penned  ;  that  hearts  bowed 
down  in  unhealthy  depression,  and  suffering  untold  agonies, 
even  tormented  be}Tond  degree  at  the  bare  idea  of  their  idols, 
being  looked  at  by  another,  may  learn  to  laugh  with  palpitating 
joy  at  their  deliverance  from  a  vampire-thrall,  and  thereafter, 
unmoved,  behold  that  self-same  idol  wrapped  in  the  foul  embrace 
of  a  tame  gorilla,  and  without  enduring  even  one  single  pang- 
ful  twinge  at  the  spectacle. 

A  false  love  withers  the  soul ;   a  true  one  builds  it  up  and 
makes  it  giant  strong.     It  will  turn  out  on  examination  that  a 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE.  1,7 

great  many  so-called  burning  loves,  like  La  Blondetle's,  are  but 
unhealthful  fevers,  smelling  more  of  below  than  above,  sulphur 
than  roses,  and  charged  with  bitter  instead  of  sweets. 

There  are  better  birds  in  the  air  than  ever  yet  were  caught 
and  caged  ;  and  better  loving  hearts,  too,  all  waiting  their  chances 
to  play  their  parts  in  the  grand  drama  of  Home  and  its  joys,  in 
many  acts  and  numerous  tableaux.  Time  dries  many  tears  and 
opens  many  graves,  yet  never  fails,  when  appealed  to,  to  cure 
all  cases  of  morbid  love. 

That  would  be  a  vain  and  hardy  traveller  who  should  affirm 
that  he  had  seen  all  things  worth  viewing  on  the  globe  ;  yet  n  ot 
one-tenth  so  desperate  in  assertion  as  he  who  should  declare 
or  even  fancy  he  had  even  a  half  idea  of  all  the  mysteries  locked 
up  within  any  one  of  the  myriad  moving  paradoxes  flitting 
around  us  all  the  time,  some  of  them  scarcely  noticed  amidst 
the  ceaseless  throng.  Such  a  one  would  be  a  fit  subject  for  a 
strait-jacket,  because  the  man  does  not,  and  never  did,  live, 
who  can,  or  could,  fathom  one  half  of  the  profundities  of  a 
woman's  nature,  or  sense  one  half  of  the  awful  amount  of  power 
coiled  away  within  the  deeps  of  her  being,  and  she  herself  is  not 
half  aware  of  what  she  is  capable  of. 

One  day  an  old  black  lady  of ,  a  lady  both  by  culture,  for 

she  had  been  educated  in  France,  and  had  half  a  million  of 
money  to  back  it,  said  to  the  Duchess  de  Broglie  :  "  Madame, 
why  do  you  not  win  the  Duke  to  your  feet,  now,  as  in  the  olden 
time?"  —  "  Ah,  ma  foil  It  is  impossible  !  "  —  "  With  your  face, 
yes!  but  not  with  your  feet!"  —  "Feet!  what?" — "Why, 
Madame,  when  you  want  to  win  the  Duke,  wear  close-fitting 
dresses,  semi-negligee  I  white  stockings  and  low-quartered  shoes!" 
The  duchess  laughed  —  and  tried  it  on,  —  for  thus  attired  his  wife 
was  the  most  beautiful  woman  that  breathed  the  sunny  air  of 
France  ;  —  and  the  "  recipe"  has  never  yet  failed  in  any  other 
land.  Why?  Because  it  never  was,  and  never  will  be,  in  the 
power  of  any  man  to  resist  the  attractions  of  a  woman  he  once 
loved,  attired  thus.  There  is  a  wonderful  magic  about  it,  whose 
nature  and  effects  are  alike  inscrutable.     But  many  a  man  and 


18  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

woman  dies  and  never  finds  it  out  —  and  indeed,  never  makes 
an  effort  to  try  to. 

Sitting  on  a  chair  in  the  office  where  this  is  written  is  an 
intimate  acquaintance  of  the  author's,  —  a  landscape  painter  of 
mighty  fame  and  far  mightier  power,  besides  being  a  very  clever 
poet —  as  the  rooms  are  in  some  sense  a  meeting-ground  for  a 

few  choice    souls.      Mr. 's  spirit  is   that  of  old  Castilian 

pride  itself,  whose  will  but  a  few  months  ago  was  adamantine, 
and  who  held  up  his  head  like  a  born  king,  as  he  is  ;  but  that 
self-same  head  is  to-night  in  sorrow  deep  bowed  down,  and  to 
him  the  great  outer  life  of  the  world,  erewhile  so  jocund  and  full 
of  brightness,  is  black  as  inky  darkness,  because  a  woman  — 
his  sport  and  half  mockery  last  year  —  has  taught  him  that  he 
really  has  a  heart ;  sometimes  a  bitter  lesson  ! 

How  strangely  we  are  organized  ;  and  how  curious  it  is  that, 
despite  all  human  experience,  which  ought  to  have  taught  us 
better,  we  so  seldom  value  health  till  sickness  lays  its  heavy 
hand  upon  us  ;  religion,  till  death  and  sorrow  have  crossed  our 
thresholds,  and  reddened  our  lintels  with  our  own  heart's  blood  ; 
wealth,  till  ruin  rushes  upon  us  ;  or  love,  till  we  have  blighted 
it,  and  brought  desolation  on  our  heads  ! 

(i  We  gathered  shells,  from  day  to  day, 
And —  threw  them,  like  a  child,  away  !" 

And  yet  that  is  the  same  old  human  story.  Is  it  to  be  repeated 
forever  and  forever?     God  knows. 

If  it  be  indeed  a  sublime  and  divine  truth  that  sex  itself  is 
but  provisional,  —  that  is,  limited  to  a  given  arc  of  the  universal 
polygon  of  souls'  duration  ;  a  provisional  phenomena  which  finds 
its  last  estoppel  when  a  given  epoch  shall  have  been  lived  through 
here  on  earth,  in  this  partial  life,  and  in  that  fuller  one  which 
follows  it  after  we  cross  to  the  other  side,  as  many  believe,  — 
then  is  it  easy  to  comprehend  the  force  and  vast  meaning  of  the 
doctrine  first  announced  by  the  author  of  this  work,  but  for 
certain  reasons,  -no  longer  existent,  accredited  to  a  certain  mys- 
tical fraternity,  but  now  openly  acknowledged,  which  doctrine 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  19 

he  gave  in  a  "  First  Manifesto."  That  idea  is  the  true  one,  and 
it  positively  declares  and  affirms  that  in  the  feminine  side  of  the 
vast  universe  is  the  womb  of  Being !  —  is  centred  the  awful 
and  tremendous  vortex  of  power  ceaselessly  moving  that  uni- 
verse from  turret  to  foundation  ;  and  in  which  is  fashioned,  and 
from  whence  is  born,  the  All  that  is,  because  itself  is  the  cen- 
tralia  of  Energ}7.  The  startling  hypothesis  may  be  true  in  fact, 
as  to  the  writer's  soul.  If  life  here  be  but  the  shadow  of  that 
beyond  and  hereafter,  —  and  as  it  is  clear  that  all  real  Power 
resides  in  the  feminine  principle  here,  while  Force,  its  shadow, 
emanates  from,  and  is  wielded  by,  the  masculine,  —  then  femi- 
ninity proclaims  its  vast  superiority,  and  Woman  at  once,  by 
reason  of  that  principle  alone,  and  aside  from  all  other  personal 
qualities  whatever,  instantly  ceases  to  be  small,  but  straightway 
looms  up  and  wears  a  radiant  importance  and  majesty,  super- 
latively, unspeakably  divine  and  grand. 

Take  the  world  and  all  things  in  it,  divide  them  up,  and  it 
will  be  found  that  those  of  love,  which  of  course  is  feminine  in 
its  nature,  outnumber  and  outweigh  those  of  mind  or  mascu- 
liiiit}7,  to  an  extent  not  easily  believable  until  after  the  com- 
parisons are  made.  Music,  art,  the  vowels,  affection,  pulchri- 
tude, light,  color,  and  all  derived  therefrom,  are  essentially 
feminine,  because  each  bears  the  burden  of  betterness  within  its 
very  nature. 

Is  it  not  a  common  knowledge  even,  that  nearly  all  men  who 
have  of  their  prowess  achieved  great  names  and  grand  results 
have  invariably  brought  them  forth  from  the  feminine  side  of 
their  natures?  Witness  the  history  of  music,  art,  sculpture, 
poetry,  and  the  drama.  Even  great  warriors  have  won  their 
proudest  laurels  on  gory  fields  of  human  slaughter,  under  the 
mighty  impulsion  of  woman's  love  ;  while  it  is  notorious  that  no 
great  rctatesman  or  orator  ever  lived  who  was  not  a  devoted 
lover  of  woman ;  and  no  speaker  ever  can  reach  such  sublime 
and  lofty  heights  of  eloquence  and  impassioned  speech,  as  when 
he  catches  the  bright  glance  and  approving  smile  of  some  fair 
auditress  before  him.     Then,  ah,  then  ! 


20  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

"  When  by  the  mighty  speaker  brought, 
Truth's  sacred  triumphs  come, 
Verse  ceases  to  be  airy  thought, 
And  sculpture  to  be  dumb." 


The  fact  is,  that,  take  love  and  beauty  away  from  a  man,  and 
he  becomes  a  poor,  dry  stick  at  best ;  for  it  is  impossible  to  do 
any  great  thing  except  under  the  inspiration  of  love  in  some 
phase. 

But  all  is  not  love  that  passes  current  as,  and  is  very  often 
believed  to  really  be  such, —  even  excluding  Passione,  for  of  all 
things  in  the  world  genuine  love  is  the  rarest  and  scarcest ; 
hard  to  find,  and  difficult  to  keep ;  besides  which,  it,  above 
everything  else,  has  the  most  counterfeits,  a  very  large  family 
of  which  have  their  rise  and  flow  in,  and  from,  that  multi-phased 
thing  known  as  Magnetism.     It  was  this  pestiferous  magnet- 
ism from  a  disordered  soul  and  nerves  of  a  vampiral  woman, 
which  nearly  ruined  the  painter  and  poet  recently  instanced  ;  it 
it  was  this  vampiral    absorption  that  once  drove   the  writer 
across  the  seas  in  order  to  break  her  hold  upon  his  very  life  ; 
it  was  the  self-same  vampirism  that  caused  him  to  go  nearly 
wild,  and  to  rush  away  from  the  basilisk  blonde,  else  perish 
beneath  her  very  eyes ;  it  was  the  knowledge  that  he  was  full 
of  magnetic  life  and  vif  that  once  caused  an  amiable  couple  to 
lavish    kindnesses    upon    him,    entertain,    feed,    picnic,    and 
sojourn  with  them,  —  because  the  very  instant  he  entered  their 
stately  stone  mansion,  that  instant  his  very  life  began  to  ooze 
out  from  him  and  go  to  the  love-starved  invalid  woman,  who 
was  literally  hungry  for  magnetism,  and  whose  system  emitted 
a  poison  sort,  which  penetrates  the  positive  person,  attracts, 
and  serves  as  a  conduit  to  fill  her  emptiness  with  his  own  rich, 
full,  magnetic  life.     It  is  men  and  women  only  of  the  vampire 
grade,  who   advocate  free  love,  and  call  the    infernal   thing 
divine !     It  is  the  travelling,  spouting,  lecturing  vampires  of 
the  pseudo-spiritualistic  school,  who  preach  promiscuity,  separ- 
ate families,  and  sail  a  man  or  a  woman  Hull-deep  in  wretched- 
ness and  affectional  hell  by  their  specious  sophistry,  before  the 


irOMAX,  LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE.  21 

victims  are  aware  of  the  dreadful  drift.     The  author  at  this 
writing  had  closed  an  interview  with  a  gentleman   of  Ohio, 
named  —  no   matter,  —  a  man  utterly  broken  and  wrecked  in 
heart  and  hope,  and  his  family  and  himself  divided  by  the 
infamous    teachings    of    a    travelling    philosopher,    of    Hell's 
blackest   school,   named  H — 1,   who   poisoned    the    mind    of 
the  man's  wife  right  before  the  husband's   own   face ;    and   the 
writer  knew  another  scoundrel,  of  the  same  name,  whose  path 
through  the  land  is  one  track  of  bitterness,  for  no  man's  home, 
or  wife,  or  child,  was  safe  from  his  infernal  vampiral  raids  on 
homes.    A  third  villain  of  the  same  cast,  in  Chicago,  during  the 
author's  absence  in  the  East,  in  1867,  corrupted  his  wife,  and 
broke  up  a  joyous  family.     But  Mr.   J-m-s-n  and  his  male 
victim  will  one  day  meet,  on  this   earth   or  off  it,  and   then 
there  will  be  a  final  reckoning.     Reader,  think  of  the  terrible 
crime,  —  of  writing  to  an  absent  husband  that  his  loved  wife  had 
fallen  lower  than  the  dregs  of  earth,  at  the  same  time  writing 
to  the  wife  that  her  husband  was  consorting  with  the  scum  of 
the  world ;  both  being  lies  as  false  as  ever  came  from  bad 
hearts,  and  both  schemes  carried  out  for  purposes  of  lust  and 
robbery !     Both   successful :    an   honest   wife   ruined ;    a   hard 
working  man  blasted,  ruined,  crushed  to  earth,  and  gi-oaning  to 
God  that  the  bitter  cup  might  pass.     Out  of  the  wrong  came 
divorce,  and  with  it   desolation.     Time  flew  by,  and  then  — 
when  it  was  too  late  —  the  fraud  exploded.     Now  came   the 
thought,  —  Human  revenge  ?  Forgiveness  ?  Neither,  —  show  up 
the  s}rstem !     Break  the  power  of  these  fiends  !     Rescue  the 
imperilled  hosts ;   expose  the   terrible   frauds,  and  strike   the 
fallacy  dead.     The  last  thought  was  the  best.     Death  to  vam- 
pirism !     It  is  that  which  destroys  husbands,  desolates  homes, 
kills  wives,  saps  the  life  of  society,  runs  young  children  into 
consumption,  and  fills  the  land  with  unnumbered  horrors.     The 
destroyers   abound,  and  the   subject  of  vampirism  in   all   its 
infernal  phases,  all  its  dreadful  shapes  and  methods,  is  now 
brought  forward  herein,  because  the  recital  will  unquestionably 
put  people  on  their  guard ;  open  the  eyes  of  many  who  have 
heretofore  been  blinded  to  the  real  facts  of  their  own  cases  ;  and 


22  WOMAX,    LOVE,    AXD   M ARM AGE. 

enable  them  to  clearly  discriminate,  first  between  the  seeming 
and  the  real ;  and,  secondly,  to  distinguish  the  genuine  affection 
from  the  false  and  counterfeit ;  thereby  showing  them  the  safe 
and  speedy  methods  of  deliverance  and  rest ;  for  no  people  on 
earth  suffer  keener  tortures  of  soul,  or  more  unbearable  mental 
agony,  than  do  the  myriad  victims  of  morbid  magnetism ; 
especially  when  it  gets  a  tight  grip  upon  its  victims  by  assum- 
ing the  specious  but  delightful  garb  of  actual,  positive,  genuine 
affection  and  love. 

There  are  strong  and  marked  differences  between  the  two, 
and  also  between  the  real  and  other  merely  semblant  affections 
of  the  human  heart  and  soul. 

The  genuineness  of  a  love  may  alwaj's  be  questioned  when- 
ever interest,  position,  or  passion,  enter  into  it  as  a  major  inte- 
grant, singly  or  combined  ;  for  true  love  has  its  roots  in  the 
very  substance  of  the  soul  itself,  and  does  not  depend  for  its 
strength,  power,  or  perdurability.  upou  the  superficial  qualities 
or  external  characteristics  or  qualifications  of  its  object.  A  real 
love  grows  by  what  it  feeds  on,  and  both  parties  to  it  are 
stronger  and  better  for  and  from  the  varied  play  of  its  varied 
forces  ;  but  a  false  love,  on  the  contrar}r,  is  exhaustive  and  dis- 
satisfactory in  all  respects.  Genuine  love  drinks  and  is  satis- 
fied ;  but  false  affection  cries,  "  Give,  give,"  even  when  the  very 
life  and  health,  and  bloom,  and  beaut}*,  or  the  mental  stamina, 
strength,  force,  power,  or  energy  of  its  object  must  be  the  sac- 
rifice. True  love  ever  conduces  to  perpetuity  and  increase  of 
all  these,  and  never  gloats  over  the  ruin  of  the  object  of  its 
likes  and  desire. 

Where  a  bride  grows  pale,  weak,  sickly,  morbid,  and  continues 
to,  month  after  month,  and  year  after  }~ear,  the  genuineness  of 
the  love  between  herself  and  mate  is  a  thing  of  dread  suspicion, 
to  say  the  least ;  and  per  contra,  where  a  man  loses  his  higher, 
nobler,  better  selfhood,  grows  careless,  wan,  shadow}',  petulant, 
irritable,  the  love  relations  between  himself  and  wife  are  prob- 
ably not  of  the  heavenly  type  or  most  transcendently  divine 
model,  character,  or  qualit}*.  Neither  is  a  genuine  love  of  such 
an  ardent,  impetuous,  vehement,  or  volcanic  nature,  as  is  a  false, 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  23 

or  merely  nervous  love ;  and  all  men  should  suspect  themselves 
when  such  is  the  case  ;  while  a  woman  who  suffers  herself  to  be 
won  by  a  lover  exhibiting  such,  is,  to  say  the  least  about  it, 
providing  a  deep  and  sure  grave  not  only  for  her  health  and 
peace,  but  for  her  hopes  and  body ;  for  a  passion-based  love 
comes  from  Hades  and  returns  thither,  generally  canying  both 
parties — one  certainly,  the  woman  —  along  with  it;  whereas 
its  opposite,  or  normal  love,  hails  direct  from  Heaven,  and 
transports  its  subjects  there ;  so  great  the  difference  between 
this  and  that. 

The  first  difference  is  that  really  true  love  always  seeks  to 
render  its  object  happy,  even  at  the  sacrifice  of  its  own  joy. 
Passion-love,  on  the  contrary,  pursues  exactly  the  opposite 
course,  and  pleases  itself  at  whatever  cost  to  its  object. 

Love  endures ;  passion  lasts  but  a  breath ;  while  morbid 
magnetism  withers  its  victim  away,  leaving  the  sufferer  miser- 
able and  wretched  indeed.  Love  adores  the  mental  traits ; 
passion  rejoices  in  the  physical  solely  ! 

It  almost  invariably  happens  that  those  persons  who  are  most 
full  of  real  love,  whose  souls  are  richest  and  ripest,  and  whose 
natures  yearn  to  embalm  others  in  its  fulness,  are,  as  a  general 
thing,  the  very  ones  who  are  most  frequently  victimized  by 
shams  and  counterfeits,  and  soonest  fall  a  prey  to  the  designing 
schemers,  female  and  male  alike,  who  infest  every  society,  and 
poison  every  atmosphere  with  their  rancorous  breath. 

While  a  man  or  woman  is  surrounded  b}r  baleful  associations, 
mental,  social,  or  material,  he  or  she  is  sure  to  become  com- 
pletely saturated  with  the  poison  effluvium  emanating  from  the 
souls  and  bodies  of  the  contaminators ;  and  just  so  long  as  he 
or  she  does  so,  the  absorbing  process  goes  on,  and  they  are  com- 
pelled, as  a  result,  to  think,  feel,  act,  and  be  like  unto  those 
surrounding  them.  In  just  so  far  forth  as  one  becomes  sat- 
urated with  this  essential  quintessence  of  ghoulism,  just  in  so 
far  do  they  lose  sight  of  true  human  duty  either  to  themselves 
or  their  best  friends  ;  for  an  infatuation  seizes  on  them,  which, 
like  a  horse-leech,  never  lets  go  until  it  reeks  and  revels  in  the 
blood  and  life  of  its  victim.    Under  its  influence  the  ideas  dwell 


24  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE. 

far  more  upon  lurid  passion  alism,  than  calm  and  holy  love  ;  the 
victim  is  never  easy ;  seldom  rests  content,  even  for  a  moment , 
peaceful  days,  quiet  nights,  or  ease  of  mind,  gentle  sleep  or 
sweet  repose,  are  all  unknown  ;  and  the  strangest  part  of  it  all 
is,  that  the  victim,  so  long  as  entwined  in  the  meshes,  is  never 
so  happy  as  when  yielding  all  of  life,  and  love,  and  hope,  to  the 
base  despoiler  of  his  or  her  soul.  Wherever  that  despoiler  may 
be,  there  will  the  hope,  and  wish,  and  thought  of  the  despoiled 
be  also  ;  and  thus  passes  a  brief  time  ;  desertion  follows  ;  mad- 
ness comes  upon  the  scene,  and  sudden  death  or  suicide  ends 
the  dreadful  tragedy. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  a  variety  of  love  simula- 
tions, —  a  remarkable  series  of  somethings  marvellously  like 
that  divine  existence,  but  which  in  reality  are  nothing  whatever 
akin  thereto. 

"  My  soul,  I  bid  thee  answer :  — 

How  are  Love's  triumphs  wrought  ?  — 
'  Two  hearts  with  but  one  feeling, 
Two  spirits  with  one  thought.' 

"  And  tell  me  how  Love  cometh?  — 
'  It  comes  unsought,  unsent ! ' 
And  tell  me  how  Love  goeth  ?  — 
'  It  was  not  Love  that  went  1 ' " 

The  consideration  of  the  subject  of  the  affections  might 
easily  lead  the  way  to  quite  a  large  field  of  metaphysical  and 
transcendental  inquiry,  but  for  which  the  reader  probably  has 
no  taste,  nor  the  writer  either  disposition  or  time  ;  for  it  is  not 
and  never  was  proposed  herein  to  discuss  the  absurd  and  invo- 
lute conjugialism  of  Swedenborg ;  the  pestilential  affinityism  of 
the  present  age ;  the  marriage-abrogation  nonsense  of  vari- 
ous high-flown  "  philosophers ; "  the  Mormon  system,  which, 
having  children  solely  for  its  great  object,  is  a  long  remove 
from  all  the  others,  —  nor,  in  short,  to  present  or  deliver  long 
homilies  on  perfectionism  or  any  other  erratic  and  erotic  sys- 
tem, so  much  in  vogue,  and  which  are  so  strongly  advocated  by 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AXD   MARRIAGE.  25 

the  venal  and  scrofulous  presses  of  the  land.  Neither  is  it 
intended  to  take  sides  with  any  of  the  so-called  "Woman's  Eights 
movements,  all  of  which  represent  the  sex  as  wholly  wronged, 
and  the  world  and  life  nothing  but  perpetual  martyrdom  for  her  ; 
simply  because  the  statement  is  not  true,  even  in  the  heart-rela- 
tions of  the  race,  for  quite  as  many  men  suffer  as  keenly  from 
the  irregularities  of  love  in  some  form  or  other,  as  there  do  of 
women  ;  and  it  is  doubtful  if  more  women  suffer  from  the  heart- 
lessness  of  those  upon  whom  their  affections  are  placed,  than 
men  ;  and  most  assuredly  when  they  do  so  suffer,  their  chances 
of  a  quick  recovery  therefrom  are  even  better  than  are  those  of 
fine-nerved  men. 

Love  is  the  grand  circulus  ceterni  motus,  —  the  great  eternal 
circular  movement, — which  sweeps  either  sex  alike  into  the  vale 
of  happiness,  or  dashes  them,  wrecked  and  broken,  upon  the 
sterile  shores  of  desolation ;  and  neither  has  the  advantage  of 
the  other  in  this  regard.  There's  a  great  deal  too  much  whine 
and  one-sidedness  generally  in  the  treatment  and  discussion  of 
these  matters  ;  and  poets  sing  and  penners  write  just  as  if 
women  alone  were  possessed  of  hearts  capable  of  agony  and  of 
being  pierced  and  shattered  ;  and  as  if  men  had  leather  souls, 
as  well  as  soles,  and  India-rubber  affections,  capable  of  being 
stabbed  without  injury,  and  stretched  to  the  crack  of  doom 
without  being  strained  or  broken !  All  that  sort  of  partialism 
is  sheer  rank  absurdity,  and  the  most  contemptible  nonsense, 
no  matter  who  utters  it,  or  how  high  the  authority,  for  God 
Himself  made  both  sexes,  placed  them  on  a  common  level,  and 
strung  both  hearts  with  identical  cords  ;  and  when  plaj-ed  upon 
roughly  each  gives  out  the  same  sad  wail ;  and  when  either  is 
swept  by  master  hands  each  alike  swells  under  the  touch,  and 
utters  the  same  glad  music  of  the  soul !  Indeed,  it  is  doubtful 
if  ever  a  man  was  so  refinedly  cruel  in  love  matters  as  a  woman 
is  capable  of  being.  The  author  of  this  work  sacredly  believes 
that  even  a  greater  percentage  of  women  are  false  to  their  hus- 
bands than  there  are  of  husbands  false  to  their  wives ;  and  that 
more  women  moving  in  respectable  ranks  know  where  assigna- 
tion houses  are  located   than  do  married  men  on  a  general  aver- 


26  WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

age.  The  Helens  and  Emmas  abound.  All  this  may  sound  harsh, 
but  it  is  God's  truth,  nevertheless  ;  while  on  the  score  of  heart- 
less cruelty,  an  instance  in  proof  that  it  won't  do  for  Pot  to  call 
Kettle  black  too  soon  :  —  There  was  a  fair,  little,  slender,  blue- 
eyed  woman  somewhere  near  Montreal,  Canada.  She  had  a 
husband,  who  undoubtedly  loved  her  dearly,  and  whom  she  pre- 
tended to  love  quite  as  intensely,  sincerely,  and  equally  well,  in 
return.  For  her  that  man  had  sacrificed  everything,  and  now 
lay  on  his  dying  bed  ;  yet  at  that  very  time,  —  she  boasted  of  it 
afterwards  to  the  author  of  this  work,  —  she  carried  on  a  guilty 
liaison  with  a  married  man  during  the  entirety  of  that  period, 
and  her  excuse  was  "  Physiological  necessity,"  rather  Hadeio- 
logical !  By  and  by  he  died,  and  she  found  her  way  to  another 
eastern  city,  where  an  Italian  artist  —  whom  she  also  speedily 
ruined  and  left  afterwards —  kindly  taught  her  a  branch  of  art 
whereby  she  could,  and  did,  gain  a  fine  living.  Presently  she 
—  the  pale-faced  blonde  —  placed  her  eyes  on  a  black,  igno- 
rant, stupid  negro ;  at  first  moulded  him  to  her  will,  and 
through  him  soon  found  a  new  victim,  around  whom  she  threw 
her  quickly  dreadful  glamour ;  and  as  soon  as  he  was  desper- 
ately entangled,  played  with  him  as  fisher-boys  do  a  trout,  or  a 
wily  cat  with  a  wretched  mouse.  By  and  by  her  nefarious  ends 
were  gained,  and  she  calmly  tortured  that  man  to  the  very  brink 
of  suicide,  and  then  coolly  told  him  she  had  never  cared  a  far- 
thing for  him,  and  gayly  went  back  to  her  thick-lipped  woolly- 
headed  lover.  The  result  was  that  her  victim  was  stricken  with 
deadly  illness,  and  his  friends  flocked  round  to  see  him  die,  and 
among  them  came  that  fiend  in  woman's  garb ;  and  as  he  lay 
there  prone  and  helpless  on  the  bed,  she  sat  there  and  smiled  as 
coolly  and  pleased  as  if  she  were  listening  to  a  strain  of  mel- 
ody from  the  last  new  opera  bouffe  of  Offenbach  or  Herve !  Is 
there  a  man  living  capable  of  deeds  like  that?  It  is  extremely 
doubtful,  and  let  us  pray  that  it  ever  may  continue  to  be  so ! 

True  love  enables  either  to  conquer  weakness.  No  love,  or 
false  love,  adds  to  them  new  growths  and  force.  True  affection 
goes,  by  inatinct,  to  whatever  attracts  it ;  but  it  is  not  true 
affection  unless  it  wakes  responsive  chords  in  the  heart  it  seeks ! 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  27 

and  were  this  touchstone  applied  there  would  be  fewer  desolate 
hearts  in  the  world.  Real  love  awakens  kindness  and  sympa- 
thy, never  engenders  cruelty ;  hence  such  a  woman  as  is  above 
described  was  as  destitute  of  it,  as  a  cold-blooded,  husband- 
poisoning,  Borgian  murderess  of  sweet  human  pity  could  be  ! 

Many  strange  phenomena  characterize  love :  sadness,  light- 
ness, despondency,  elevation,  and  all  life  is  viewed  in  every 
color  from  tawny  black  dun  to  the  radiant  hues  of  summer 
sunsets.  Now  it  laughs  at  the  gentle  pains  it  visits  on  its 
object ;  then  it  makes  sport  of  the  fears  it  excites  ;  but  whatever 
its  mutations  may  be,  it  is  never  coldly,  deliberately,  con- 
tinuously, heartlessly  cruel.  And  whenever  what  passes  for 
Love  exhibits  anything  of  that  sort,  love,  real  love,  has  no  rest- 
ing-place in  any  being  who  develops  any  such  characteristic ; 
but  the  passion  is  hadean,  decidedly,  —  one  of  the  family  of  the 
fallen  angels,  intent,  in  its  desperate  hate  of  human  happiness, 
on  doing  deeds  against  individuals  which  the  monarch  of  Hell 
is  believed  to  do  on  a  vastly  malignant  and  extensive  scale. 
Its  battle-cry  is  pitched  in  alto,  and  its  theme  is  ever  the 
passions,  —  wine,  woman,  liberty,  and  lager  !  —  and  so  long  as 
the  senses  are  led  captive,  turns  scowlingly  away  from  all  that 
pertains  to  man's  loftier  nature,  his  destiny  and  his  soul !  In 
a  word,  Love  lifts  up,  but  its  simulants  eternally  drag  down  ; 
one  clears  the  vision,  the  other  clouds  the  sight,  dulls  perception 
and  sows  broadcast  the  prolific  seeds  of  crime,  wretchedness, 
ill  health,  aberration,  insanity,  and  death. 

Passion,  selfish,  leech-like,  looks  ever  for  its  ideal,  —  purity, 
candor,  truth,  virtue,  sincerity  ;  and  if  it  finds  it,  soon  grows 
weary,  and  starts  off  again,  baited  by  new  impossibilities,  the 
creation  of  its  own  unhealth,  and  destroys  whatever  it  touches. 
Love,  on  the  contrary,  clothes  its  object  with  ideal  perfections, 
strives  to  bring  up  the  reality  to  the  mental  standard,  and  de- 
lights to  think  its  work  being  rapidly  accomplished. 

Passion  seeks,  finds,  but  is  never  satisfied  even  with  variety. 
Love,  on  the  other  hand,  wants  its  object  wholly  to  and  for  it- 
self. And  this  fact  alone  ought  to  put  an  eternal  quietus  on 
the  sophistical  gabble  of  the  salacious  philosophers  who  con- 


28  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

tend  for  "  Free  Love  "  or  variety.  God  and  Nature  intended 
human  beings  to  live  in  couples  ;  and  whoever  fails  to  see  that 
fact  and  abide  by  it,  is  one  of  two  things,  —  a  scoundrel  or  a 
fool! 


CHAPTER  II. 

Woman  is  by  nature,  though  not  in  the  same  directions,  the 
absolute  equal  of  Man,  each  excelling  in  certain  points  and 
qualities,  but  exactly  balancing  one  the  other  in  the  grand  and 
final  summing  up.  Holding  this  view  throughout,  the  author 
makes  no  war  against  her  nor  her  rights,  —  such  as  are  true, 
natural  and  real ;  but  he  does  object  to,  and  make  relentless 
war  upon,  that  specious  system  of  Woman's  Rightsism,  which 
proclaims  free  harlotage,  the  do-as-impulse-or-interest-prompts- 
ism  and  the  right  of  murdering  her  unborn  child,  whether 
legitimate  or  not.  He  objects  to  strong-minded  society-fractur- 
ing clap-trap,  and  insists  that  she  who  proposes  to  lead 
woman  to  the  promised  land  shall  herself  be  pare,  and  not  a 
thrice-branded  harlot. 

Take  the  general  average  of  human  kind  in  civilized  lands, 
and  it  will  be  found  that  in  respect  to  suffering  from  affeo 
tional  causes  both  sexes  balance  each  other.  Equal  numbers 
of  each  are  ruined,  take  to  bad  courses,  and  fall  headlong  into 
the  slimy  ditches  of  vice  and  crime  by  the  waysides  of  the 
world,  or  kill  themselves  outright,  by  reason  of  love-aberrations 
or  from  the  one  great  want  of  human  nature,  —  true  companion- 
ship. 

Certain  it  is  that  no  human  heart,  where  love  dwells  not,  can 
possibly  be  happy,  at  least  healthfully  so !  and  unless  it  is 
sound,  it  is  a  delusion.  Scripture  tells  us  that  it  is  not  good  for 
man  to  be  alone ;  but  it  is  equally  bad,  if  not  far  worse,  for  a 
woman  to  be  alone  and  desolate,  for  various  reasons  ;  among 
which  are,  that  she  has  not  the  same  wide  field  of  labor  that  the 
man  has,  and  far  fewer  external  matters  to  distract  her  atten- 


WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  29 

tion ;  and,  besides,  as  it  is  the  province  of  man  to  think  and 
feel,  woman  mainly  does  the  latter,  and  without  an  object  to 
feel  for  she  is  desolate  indeed.  Man's  isolation  can  be  relieved 
in  a  thousand  ways,  but  not  so  woman's  ;  she  must  love  or  die 
a  thousand  deaths,  and  can  never  be  happy  unless  her  affections 
do  have  scope  and  play. 

Passion,  to  some  extent,  may  substitute  love  in  a  man's  nature, 
but  never  in  a  woman's,  in  any  of  its  moods  or  phases.  She 
must  have  soul-affection,  and  can  never  rest  content  with  blood- 
energy,  interest,  friendly  feeling,  or  any  form  or  mode  of  so- 
called  magnetic  attraction,  except  when  she  is  a  born  thrall  of 
affectional  disease  ;  but  she  must,  to  be  her  real,  true  self,  drink 
full  draughts  of  heart-filling,  soul-satisfying  love.  Is  it  not  a 
splendid  truth  that  no  man  ever  yet  lived  but  in  whose  soul  the 
loftiest  emotions  he  ever  knew,  sprung  from  love  in  some  form  ? 
And  what  would  a  woman  be  who  in  her  soul's  deep  core  re- 
jected the  idea  that  love  was  the  fulfilling  of  the  law,  —  a  law 
printed  on  every  fibre  of  her  entire  being  ? 

Without  the  slightest  intention  to  materialize  this  divine  pas- 
sion of  the  human  being,  still  must  it  be  viewed  and  treated 
primarily  from  a  plvysical  stand-point,  because  love  always  has 
an  object,  and  that  object  is  a  person,  whose  face,  figure,  or 
qualities  shadowed  through  them,  are  what  inspires  the  love  we 
feel ;  wherefore  at  this  point  it  is  well  to  affirm  that  the  passion 
treated  of  is  a  thing  of  Body,  Brain,  Nerves,  Heai't,  Spirit, 
iEth  and  Soul, —  these  seven.  [What  is  meant  here  by  iEth  is 
the  telegraphic  system  of  souls,  whereby  one  beats  time  with, 
and  responds  to,  the  rhythmic  throbbings,  cadences,  and  pulsa- 
tions of  another,  when  both  are  pitched  in  the  same  key.]  Let 
us  therefore  begin  at  the  foundation,  —  matter,  body,  phys- 
ique,—  and  trace  this  subtle  something  to  its  source,  its 
centre,  its  fountains,  whence  it  flows  to  make  or  mar  the  for- 
tunes of  all  human  kind. 

It  is  certain,  whatever  God-denying  materialism  may  affirm  to 
the  contrary,  that  the  human  soul  is  not  a  rarefied  form  of  mat- 
ter. It  is  equally  true  that  love  is  neither  hydrogen,  carbon, 
oxygen,  or  even  electricity,  in  any  form  whatever,  as  we  know 


30  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

and  comprehend  it ;  but  in  the  light  of  science,  no  sane  man 
can  deny  that  love  has  a  great  deal  to  do  with  those  self-same 
elements  ;  nor  that,  conversely,  they  have  a  great  deal  to  do 
with  love.  It  is  well-known  that  love  thrives  in  the  sunshine, 
sickens  in  the  shade ;  and  that  however  ethereal  it  may  be,  it 
still  has  strong  affinities  to  good  beef  and  sound  food  generally  ; 
that  it  flourishes  better  in  a  cottage  than  a  cabin  ;  and  that  even 
democratic  soap  and  water  has  much  to  do  with  its  culture, 
growth,  strength,  depth,  and  perpetuity.  We  look  in  vain  for  it 
to  thrive  in  an  atmosphere  tainted  with  offensive  odors,  envi- 
roned with  squallor,  marred  by  personal  carelessness,  or  dwarfed 
by  morbid,  unhealthy  surroundings.  An  unclean  person  can- 
not be  loved,  nor  love  in  return,  as  under  exactly  opposite  con- 
ditions ;  and  unquestionably  much  unhappiness,  and  the  grad- 
ual wasting  and  final  demise  of  millions  of  genuine  loves  could 
easily  be  traced  to  neglect  of  these  essentials  to  the  healthful 
growth  of  true  affection. 

Love  in  its  nature  is  pure,  clean,  crystalline,  and  fine ;  and 
whatever  tends,  even  in  a  remote  degree,  to  offend  its  delicate 
sense  is  a  fatal  stab  at  its  very  life.  Arithmetic  would  have  to 
be  strained  to  compute  the  number  of  men  who  have  utterly 
slain  love,  and  rendered  their  homes  desolate,  by  words,  and 
what  is  infinitely  worse,  actions,  offensive  to  the  fine  susceptibil- 
ities, delicac}',  and  sense  of  propriety,  of  a  loving  wife.  The 
ripe  peach  has  a  bloom  to  be  not  harshly  rubbed  off;  and  so, 
too,  has  a  woman,  against  which  no  man  can  offend  with  impu- 
nity ;  for  although  a  woman  will  endure  much  from  the  man 
she  loves,  yet  there  is  a  point  at  which  she  must  and  will  resist 
and  resent ;  and  that  point  once  reached,  she  begins  to  look  on 
him  with  different  eyes  than  she  did  before.  Especially  in  this 
country  are  families  broken  up  from  this  cause  alone ;  men 
blindly  seeming  bent  on  wilfully  ignoring  the  fact  that  there  are 
times  when  a  wife's  sanctity  is  not  to  be  intruded  upon  in  any 
way ! 

Many  a  male,  calling  himself  both  man  and  husband,  when  in 
fact  he  is  not  even  a  fraction  of  either,  shortly  after  marriage, 
when  excess  begins  to  pall  his  vigor,  resort  to  dastardly,  igno- 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE.  31 

ble,  loathly  and  abominable  practices,  to  kindle  up  their  fleeting 
power,  and  by  unutterably  abominable  exactions  and  exposures 
blunt  their  wives'  delicacy  and  sow  the  prolific  seeds  of  rage, 
hatred,  and  inexpressible  loathing  disgust  in  the  woman's  heart, 
and  open  her  eyes  to  the  awful  fact  that  what  she  took  for  a 
man  and  husband  turns  out  to  be  a  beast  and  satyr,  too  low  in 
God's  scale  to  be  the  fit  associate  of  even  the  vilest  Bacchante 
on  earth. 

Sir,  if  you  are  not  an  insane  fool  or  stupid  idiot,  respect  your 
wife  quite  as  much  in  private,  as  you  would  were  the  myriad 
eyes  of  all  mankind  watching  your  every  action.  Do  this, 
not  in  fear,  but  as  a  mark  of  tender,  true,  genuine  manhood.  If 
you  are  not  yet  a  man,  try  to  be  one,  and  your  wife,  if  she  be 
half  a  woman,  will  help  you  in  the  good  work.  A  woman  is  a 
very  fine  clock,  and  she  won't  keep  time,  or  come  to  it  either,  in 
any  sense,  unless  carefully  tended  and  properly  wound  up.  There, 
do  you  understand?  —  wound  up,  but  not  ivounded!  Don't 
forget  it ! 

Love,  being  fine,  sensitive,  delicate,  whatever  is  coarse, 
rough,  rude  or  immodest,  is  incompatible,  not  only  with  its 
nature,  but  with  any  one  of  its  myriad  moods  and  phases  ;  and 
nothing  is  more  absolutely  certain  than  that  it  wanes,  becomes 
enfeebled,  and  finally  takes  wing  or  dies  outright,  of  surfeits  of 
anger,  jealousy,  liquor,  tobacco,  soiled  linen,  foul  morals,  bad, 
coarse  language,  and  pernicious  personal  habits. 

Now  mark  one  of  love's  hidden  mysteries  :  so  fine  and  sensi- 
tive a  thing  is  it,  that  no  man  can  long  deceive  the  woman  who 
loves  him  ;  nor  the  wife  a  loving  husband,  because  no  act,  how- 
ever secret,  whether  it  be  of  love,  passion,  or  anger,  but  indeli- 
bly marks  or  prints  itself  upon  the  actor  so  forcibly  too,  that 
the  shadow  of  the  wrong  thing  photographs  itself  upon  the 
wronger  and  the  wronged  alike.  The  human  soul  may  be  fairly 
compared  with,  and  likened  to,  a  very  sensitive  photographic 
plate,  just  prepared  to  receive  the  shadow  to  be  thrown  upon  it 
by  the  operator  ;  because  whatever  influence  affects  the  human 
being  in  any  wa}r,  invariably  and  inevitably  so  impresses  itself 
upon  the  individual,  that  any  sensitive  person  can  feel,  sense, 
and  know  it  with  an  almost  absolute  certainty ;  and  although 


32  WOMAN,   LOVE,  AND  MARRIAGE. 

all  persons  are  not  fine  and  sensitive  ordinarily,  yet  all  are  so 
without  exception  in  the  departments  of  our  common  human 
nature,  where  love  has  its  rise  and  outflow.  Hence  a  man  false 
to  his  wife  or  fiancee  cannot  successfully  hide  his  duplicity,  or 
victoriously  lie  to  her,  for  she  is  sure  to  sense,  and  feel  it,  no 
matter  how  eloquent  may  be  his  plea  of  innocence.  This  is 
why  so  many  husbands  marvel  at  the  growing  coldness  of  their 
wives  ;  wonder  what  it  can  be  that  is  daily  sundering  the  domes- 
tic ties  ;  for  they  have  done  nothing,  that  the  wife  knows  any- 
thing about ;  that  little  folly,  this  little  escapade,  the  other 
small  trifle,  were  secrets  from  her ;  she  knew  nothing  about 
it ;  then  what  can  the  matter  be  ?  How  in  the  name  of  com- 
mon sense  did  she  find  out  that  so  and  so  met  him  at  such  and 
such  a  place,  and  so  on  and  so  forth  ?  Fool,  do  you  not  know 
that  a  loving  woman  is  at  one  and  the  same  time  the  blindest 
of  mortals,  and  the  sharpest  of  clairvoyants  ?  No !  then  the 
greater  fool  you,  not  to  have  learned  that  fact  long  ago ! 
"  What's  the  matter  ?  "     Listen :  — 

The  matter  simply  is  that  he  sinned,  erred,  went  astray,  and 
brought  back  to  his  own  fireside  the  tell-tale  proofs  of  his  own 
sad  fault,  ground  into  his  very  being ;  printed  on  his  every 
feature ;  engraved  upon  his  face ;  dyed  in  his  actions ;  en- 
grafted on  his  body,  spirit,  soul,  and  fully  impregnated  in  the 
sphere  evolved  every  moment  from  all  three  !  Thai  is  just  what 
the  matter  is  ;  only  this  and  nothing  more. 

You  cannot  tell  a  perfectly  successful  falsehood  to  any  one. 
much  less  to  a  woman,  and  above  all  to  a  woman  who  loves  the 
man  who  attempts  to  outrage  her  feminine  instincts  and 
impose  upon  her  wifely  nature.  A  falsehood  is  the  worst 
investment  in  a  love-relation  ever  made  by  man ;  for  it  is 
certain  to  defeat  itself  in  the  long  run,  and  sooner  or  later  will 
parade  its  deformity  to  all  who  have  eyes.  Murder  will  out, 
and  so  will  a  lie. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  love  is  quite  as  much  a  thing  of 
matter  as  of  mind  ;  but  while  this  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  quite 
true,  yet  it  is  not  altogether  so ;  but  nevertheless  there  is  no 
disputing  the  fact  that  the  more  perfect  our  health  of  mind  and 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE.  33 

body  is,  the  purer  our  habits,  methods  of  life,  sleeping,  eating, 
drinking ;  the  cleaner  and  clearer  are  our  physical  systems, 
forms,  conditions,  blood,  skin,  brains,  nerves,  fluids,  solids,  and 
physical  states  generally,  the  better  chance  have  lofty  and  holy 
influences  to  guide  us  aright  in  the  devious  crooks  and  turnings 
of  the  varied  life  we  are  all  compelled  to  walk  in  while  we  live 
on  earth.  The  higher  we  stand  on  the  scale  of  perfect  health 
the  better  able  are  we  to  beat  back  the  smiling  temptations  to 
sin  which  meet  and  lure  us  at  every  step  we  take  in  the  long 
journey,  which  begins  when  we  step  forth,  tottering,  from  the 
dear  arms  of  the  mother  whose  joy  and  hope  we  were,  and, 
leading  over  deep  valleys  and  rough  mountains,  brings  us  to 
the  shore  of  the  mystic  stream,  across  the  bridge  of  death,  and 
then  over  the  table-lands  of  the  far-off  Heaven,  to  that  grand 
destiny  which  He  only  comprehends  and  fully  knows,  who  in 
infinite  wisdom  placed  us  here  and  said,  "Begin  thy  task  — 
Achievement  ! "  but  who  will  never  say,  "  Ended,"  while  a 
single  arm  of  the  infinite  polygon  of  Being  remains  untravelled, 
its  wondrous  mysteries  unexplored  !  Thus  Love  leads  man 
to  heaven,  religion,  advancement,  action ;  while  mere  pas- 
sion (and  all  love's  counterfeits)  turns  our  feet  aside,  and 
draws  us  down  to  perdition  and  to  ruin,  mental,  social, 
moral,  emotional,  and  material.  It  matters  not  who  affirms  the 
contrary. 

No  American  reader  can  have  much  patience  with  the  morbid 
lucubrations  of  Michelet,  respecting  woman,  nor  can  any 
healthy  reader  entertain  much  respect  for  the  far  worse,  and 
infinitely  more  dangerous,  notions  on  the  same  subject  of  late 
years  put  forth  by  scores  of  so-called  reformers  in  our  own 
land,  not  a  few  of  whom  claim  to  be  spiritualists,  but  whom  the 
better  class  of  that  body  of  people  will  one  day  begin  to  see 
through,  and  ignore  accordingly. 

It  is  clear  that  a  sound  soul  needs,  and  ought  to  have,  a 
sound  and  healthy  body  ;  and  still  clearer  that  a  sound  and 
healthy  love  imperatively  demands  correspondent  physical 
conditions  and  mental  health.  And  the  better  off  we  are  in 
these  respects,  the  stronger,  higher,  better,  nobler,  and  purer 


34  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

will,  nay,  must  be,  the  loves  we,  in  the  first  place,  are  capable 
of  inspiring  in  the  breast  of  another ;  and  in  the  second,  of 
cherishing  and  entertaining  toward  the  object  which  calls  the 
emotion  forth  from  the  deeps  of  our  inner,  as  well  as  from  the 
surface  of  our  outer  nature. 

The  higher  we  ourselves  stand  on  the  plane  of  true  man  and 
womanhood,  the  broader,  deeper,  more  enduring  and  satis- 
factory, in  all  conceivable  respects,  will  be  our  loves,  and 
especially  and  emphatically  those  which  arise  between  the 
two  sexes,  in  accordance  with  the  divine  will  and  law,  which 
we  were  placed  here  to  obey  and  observe,  —  not  to  abuse  and 
violate,  as  too  many  of  us  do. 

When  this  book  was  begun,  its  author  intended  to  give  a 
scientific  analysis  of  the  human  body,  brain,  bones,  solids, 
fluids,  etc. ;  and  to  lay  down  a  comprehensive  system,  born  of 
the  experience  and  sufferings,  physical  and  emotional,  of  several 
of  the  writei"'s  friends ;  but  second  thoughts,  which  are  always 
best,  suggested  the  query,  What  do  persons  in  love  care  for 
science  ?  Whoever  buys  the  book  and  comes  to  that  part  will 
be  sure  to  skip  it !  and  so  that  matter  is  left  out,  which  leads  to 
the  remark  that  common  sense  is,  after  all,  the  finest  kind  of 
sense,  besides  being,  as  a  corrective  of  any  little  morbidity 
lurking  in  any  part  of  our  systems,  —  physical,  moral,  mental, 
and  affectional,  —  probably  the  very  best  medicine  ever  taken, 
provided  always  it  be  properly  digested.  Well,  common  sense 
says,  Is  it  reasonable  to  expect  to  be  loved  without  one's  self 
using  every  lawful  effort  to  become  lovable?  Answer  it, 
reader,  for  yourself.  Is  it  possible  to  live  along,  day  after  day, 
under  the  influence  of  impulse,  chance,  accident,  whatever  may 
be  the  day's  fortunes,  and  expect  the  loves  of  the  home  side  to 
grow  strong  and  luxuriant,  without  taking  any  pains  to  render 
them  so?  and  the  question  is  addressed  to  man  and  woman 
alike.  Is  it  reasonable?  Answer  again.  If  such  pains  were 
generally  taken  by  the  untold  millions  of  unhappy  wedded 
people,  a  great  many  of  whom  thank  Heaven  that  divorce  laws 
exist,  —  which  laws  unquestionably  do  more  harm  than  good,  — 
is  it  reasonable  to  think  so  many  divorce  sharpers,  some  of 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  35 

whom  wax  fat  on  rank  perjury,  and  all  flourish  on  wrong  and 
injustice,  would  damn  the  land  they  live  in,  and  drive  fast 
teams  at  the  cost  of  the  hard  earnings  of  many  an  erring,  but, 
at  the  base,  well-meaning  man  and  woman,  whose  great  fault 
lies  in  trying  to  be  wretched,  and  not  to  be  happy?  If  people 
would  only  examine  a  little  closer,  it  would  be  found  that  nine 
out  of  every  ten  divorce  suits,  or  unhappy  marriages,  grow  out 
of  the  interference  of  meddlers,  tattlers,  gossips,  pretended 
friends  to  one  or  other  of  the  parties  concerned,  but  actually, 
practically,  enemies  to  both.     Do  you  not  think  so,  reader? 

"  Passional  attraction  !  "  "  AffhnMyism  ! "  Shame  !  Let 
any  man  or  woman  revel  in  such  delusions  to  their  hearts'  con- 
tent, and  "  There's  no  home  like  the  old  home,  no  love  like  the 
old  love,  no  husband  (or  wife)  like  the  old  one,  after  all ! "  is, 
and  will  be,  forever,  the  inevitable  verdict  in  the  heart,  no  mat- 
ter if  the  proud  lip  does  refuse  to  speak  the  words  or  not ;  for 
such  an  experience  proves  to  the  hasty  man  or  woman,  led 
astray  by  such  philosophy  and  dreadful  teachings,  that  some- 
thing more  than  magnetic  attraction,  passionalism,  and  such 
destructive,  radical,  new-school  doctrines,  are  required  to  quiet 
the  unrest,  and  satisfy  the  sore  yearnings  of  the  troubled  heart. 

A  story :  A  miser  lost  upon  the  desert.  Thirsty,  he  beheld 
afar  off  a  glittering  brook  ;  ran  to  it,  reached  the  place,  where 
tall  palms  shadowed  earth  with  their  heavy  crowns  of  greenery, 
and  rich  clusters  of  luscious-looking  dates.  He  shook  the  trees 
—  and  "  Allah,  Allah !  they  are  only  pearls  and  diamonds!" 
Burning  up  with  fervent  heat,  he  ran  to  the  brookside ;  but, 
alas  !  the  rock  gave  forth  only  broad  sheets  of  sparkling  jewels. 
Horror  !  He  was  a-hungered,  and  only  baubles  to  satisfy  him  ! 
athirst,  and  only  molten  jewels  to  appease  it !  And  then  came 
Azrael,  the  terrible  Angel  of  Death,  and  flapped  his  sable 
wings  in  the  dying  miser's  face,  for  awhile,  then  stretched  forth 
his  hand  to  strike,  and — the  miser  awoke.  "Allah  be  praised, 
'twas  but  a  dream  ! "  Thenceforth  he  lived  a  better  life,  and 
blessed  the  world  with  his  power  and  wealth.  Well,  affinityism 
and  passional  attraction,  like  lust  and  rum,  and  great  wealth, 
are  but  horrid   morbid  dreams,  as  void  of  real  happiness  and 


36  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

true  joy  as  were  the  mock  waters,  and  stony  fruit  of  the  Cai- 
reen's  wondrous  dream.  Would  to  our  Father  in  Heaven  we 
could  reason  well  and  find  these  things  out  before  the  last  sad 
steps  are  taken,  which  are  alwaj^s  sure  to  part  us  from  a  little 
domestic  certainty,  to  wreck  us  on  the  rocks  of  adversity  !  Oh, 
the  multitudes  of  parted  wives  and  husbands,  who,  too  late, 
find  out  what  they  have  lost,  and  who  would  give  half  their 
lives  for  the  chance  of  once  more  trying  to  be  happy  with  the 
first  love  in  the  old  home,  by  the  old  well-side ! 

Discontent  feeds  itself  on  excuses  ;  is  opposed  to  love  ;  does 
not  believe  in  trying  to  mend  matters  ;  but  ever  insists  upon 
making  things  worse,  and  in  looking  at  the  dark  side.  It  is 
wonderfully  quick  at  finding  flaws,  but  is  stone  blind  to  the  bet- 
ter side,  and  can  never  once  see  the  shining  shores  of  Hope  and 
Possibility.  It  ever  yields  to  excitement ;  magnifies  mole-hills 
into  most  stupendous  mountains  ;  is  full  of  excitement ;  takes 
Impulse  as  chief  counsellor ;  listens  gladly  to  the  tale-bearer, 
and  will  destroy  the  best  home  on  earth  in  less  time  than  it 
took  to  build  one  of  its  closets !  It  is  a  morbid  cannibal,  who 
feeds  on  human  hearts,  and,  like  a  cancer,  grows  deeper  every 
day.  People  know  this  too  ;  yet  in  spite  of  reason,  common 
sense,  and  every  healthful  power  besides,  seem  to  take  pleasure 
in  culturing  the  monster,  until  hearts  are  wrecked,  hopes  shat- 
tered, and  domestic  ruin  scatters  salt  and  ashes  on  the  sites  of 
once  happy  homes ;  and  all  for  want  of  a  little,  very  little, 
patience,  common  sense,  and  TRY  ! 

We  all  have  a  weak  and  a  strong  side,  but  are  more  prone  tc 
yield  to  the  former  than  follow  the  counsels  of  the  latter. 
This,  probably,  results  from  the  power  of  a  third  element, — 
Wilfulness ;  a  thing  we  like  to  yield  to,  no  matter  how  wrong 
the  thing  may  seem ;  and  hundreds  of  women,  and  men  too, 
have  fallen  and  gone  astra}T,  not  from  a  bad  heart,  intent,  or 
even  "strong  temptation,  but  from  a  sudden  gush  of  vril fulness, — 
"just  for  fun," — an  experiment  that  has  wrecked  many  a  good 
man  and  woman !  Impulse  is  a  very  dangerous  customer,  for, 
although  sometimes  prompting  to  the  right,  its  chief  delight  is 
to  rush  us  to  the  wrong. 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  37 

Apropos  to  this  section  of  the  general  subject,  but  especially 
to  what  has  just  been  offered.  Suicide  statistics  prove  beyond 
contradiction  that  more  men  kill  themselves  than  women  ;  that 
more  male  suicides  result  from  love  causes,  domestic  trouble, 
and  deranged  affection,  than  do  those  of  women  from  identical 
causes.  More  single  persons  of  both  sexes  kill  themselves  than 
married  ones,  and  more  divorced  persons  than  the  widowed. 
The  statistics  of  insanity  demonstrate  that  more  men  become 
demented  from  love  causes  and  domestic  infelicity  than  women  ; 
and  more  insanity  in  both  sexes  follows  the  breaking  up  of 
homes,  and  the  estrangement  of  married  people,  than  from  any 
three  other  causes  combined  ;  while  the  same  authority  declares 
that  more  vice,  crime,  and  drunkenness  results  from  these  break- 
ings-up,  and  among  those  thus  broken,  parted,  separated,  than 
among  the  combined  ranks  of  those  who  are  single,  widowed, 
or  living  in  the  married  relation ;  and  for  these  most  cogent 
reasons  it  behooves  society  to  take  prompt  and  effective 
measures  to  preserve  itself  by  putting  an  estoppel  upon  the 
brawlers  for  divorce,  and  that  class  of  so-called  New  Lights, 
who,  unfit  to  enjoy  the  blessings  of  marriage  themselves,  sate  a 
depraved  appetite  by  rendering  others  discontented ;  and  by 
morbid  reasonings  sapping  the  very  foundations  of  the  social 
structure,  and  transforming  earth  into  a  bedlam  too  black  and 
filthy  to  be  described,  —  too  turbid  and  sickening  to  be  en- 
dured. 

It  is  hard  to  tell  what  a  mosquito  was  made  for,  except  to 
murder  us  in  detail.  Now  you  hear  him,  and  then  you  don't. 
B-z-z-z-z-z-z  !  Slap  !  but  he's  gone,  only  to  attack  you  some- 
where else  and  gorge  himself  with  your  heart's  best  blood.  The 
only  thing  is  to  lay  low  for  that  mosquito  ;  keep  cool  and  shady ; 
be  still.  See !  He  thinks  you  are  napping,  and  resolves  to  go 
in  for  a  delicious  feed  —  at  your  expense  !  There,  now  he  has 
lit,  —  careful,  —  raise  your  hand,  softly.  Now  strike  !  Good  ! 
you've  hit  him.  That  mosquito  will  bite  no  more.  He's  rightly 
served.  You've  mashed  him,  and  served  him  right,  you  exclaim, 
and  so  say  all  of  us  ;  so  say  we  all.  Well,  what's  the  difference 
between  a  rampant,  radical,  social  disorganize!',  who  goes  round 


38  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MAURI  AGE. 

sapping  the  lives  and  blighting  the  joys  of  pure-minded,  inno- 
cent women,  under  various  sophistical  pleas,  and  a  mosquito? 
Mash  him!  grind  the  wretch  to  powder  !  The  sooner  the  world 
gets  rid  of  all  such  vermin,  insectivorous  or  human,  the  better 
for  those  who  are  left  behind,  —  and  so  say  all  of  us  ! 

The  human  race  delights  in  wholesale  murder,  and  our  fairest 
ladies  gayly  deck  us  off  for  war  ;  but  when  murder  is  on  a  small 
scale  it  shocks  us.  3 jet  us  hope  to  outlive  it  on  both  scales ; 
still  while  the  thing  is  fashionable  one  cannot  help  regretting 
that  so  many  good  people  are  slain,  and  that  so  few  mosqmtos 
are  compelled  to  face  the  music,  and  be  sent  to  where  their 
sins  will  be  fewer  and  their  chances  for  improvement  infinitely 
enhanced.  What  follows  in  the  next  paragraph  does  not  in- 
clude men  and  women  who  are  parted,  nor  loose  characters  ;  nor 
men  and  their  wives  who  tacitly  ignore  their  marital  relations  ; 
nor  does  it  include  harloty  wives,  or  libertinish  husbands ;  but 
it  only  means  the  loving,  true  wives  of  true  and  loving  men,  as 
the  first  class,  and  innocent  young  girls  in  the  second ;  and  this 
is  the  paragraph  :  The  author  fully  justifies  any  man  in  publicly 
horsewhipping  any  "Philosopher"  who  dares  try  to  foist  free- 
love  doctrines  on  that  man's  honest  wife  and  daughters  !  If  that 
philosopher  should  succeed  in  corrupting  that  man's  wife  and 
daughters,  or  either  of  them,  that  man  is  justified  in  avenging 
the  wrong,  no  matter  to  what  extent  he  may  go,  provided  always 
that  the  women  were  pure  beforehand,  and  gave  no  overt  en- 
couragement to  the  seducer ;  for  in  that  case  the  latter' s  punish- 
ment would  be  a  great  wrong,  and  his  killing,  wilful  diabolic 
murder.  Hence  McFarland  was  wrongly  acquitted,  for  the  man 
and  woman  were  alike  culpable,  if  culpability  there  was  about 
the  case  at  all.  If  a  female  seduces  a  man  from  allegiance  from 
his  wife,  home,  and  children,  the  wife  is  justified  in  arousing 
public  sentiment  against  the  errant  harlot,  and  in  making  her 
surfer  for  the  wrong  in  any  way  in  her  power,  —  even  to  the 
extent  of  moderate  lynching.  If  any  man  or  woman  takes  ad- 
vantage of  the  common  idea  of  the  right  of  free  speech,  and 
uses  that  right  in  the  enunciation  of  doctrines  favoring  concu- 
binage, free  love,  and  the  destruction  of  the  family  and  social 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE.  39 

compact,  any  community  is  perfectly  justified  in  tarring, 
feathering,  and  riding  on  a  rail  out  of  town,  any  and  all  such 
disturbers  of  the  public  health  and  morals.  If  bad  women  and 
worse  men  establish  houses  of  assignation  and  infamy,  insurance 
companies  ought  not  to  pay  damages  when  the  people,  headed 
by  the  wives  of  that  town,  burn  that  den  to  the  ground  ;  and  the 
wives  are  justified  in  getting  rid  of  such  a  calamitous  nuisance 
in  any  possible  way. 

Another  thing  against  infidelity  seems  to  have  escaped  notice. 
It  is  the  notorious  fact  that  a  man  who  succeeds  in  seducing  a 
wife  from  her  duty  and  home  never  respects  the  victim  !  and  no 
love,  truly,  such  can  exist  where  respect  is  not !  Nor  can  the 
woman  respect  the  man  for  whom  she  has  forsaken  all !  True, 
for  a  time,  while  novelty  lasts  and  passion  reigns,  she  may  be 
joyous,  but  never  happy ;  for  happiness  is  incompatible  with 
guilt,  and  can  never  be  built  upon  a  wrong,  and  there  inevitably 
comes  a  period  wherein  grief,  sorrow,  and  anguish  help  to 
finish  the  sad  work  which  impulse  and  folly  began.  For  that  is 
not  love  which  degrades  its  object,  but  is  a  weird,  unhealthy 
semblance  of  it,  which  conquers  only  to  despise,  and  eventually 
ruin  and  destroy. 

To  preserve  the  true  integrity  of  our  souls,  we  must  learn  to 
be  reasonable,  yield  to  neither  whim,  caprice,  or  excitement, 
and  ever  before  acting  look  the  possible  consequences  fairly  in 
the  face,  and  will  and  determine  to  withstand  the  pressure,  and 
be  true  to  justice,  right,  and  self-respect ;  for  if  you  yield  even 
once,  and  become  conscious  of  your  own  guilt,  even  though  it 
be  a  dead  secret,  it  will  fill  you  with  bitter  and  terrible  remorse  ; 
for  its  memory,  like  that  of  Herod,  will  keep  coming  up  as  a 
ghost,  and  "  It  is  John  whom  I  beheaded  !  He  is  risen  from  the 
dead ! "  will  be  your  secret  cry,  even  when  none  but  God  can 
hear. 

If  we  be  true  to  our  better  nature,  that  is  all  that  God  himself 
can  require  of  us.  It  is  impossible  to  hide  ourselves  from  our- 
selves, no  matter  whither  we  run,  what  subterfuges  we  resort  to, 
or  how  deep  the  deluding  sophistry  we  try  to  believe.  Be  right, 
be  just,  and  then  we  have  a  safe  and  very  trusty  pilot,  who  will 


40  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

triumphantly  lead  us  out  of  difficulty,  away  from  temptation, 
and  back  into  the  fold  of  human  duty.  Failing  in  this  regard, 
we  cease  to  be  real  men  and  women,  save  only  in  appearance ; 
and  forthwith  relapse  into  the  tool  and  slave,  —  the  despicable 
automaton  of  impulse,  —  the  sport  and  plaything  of  passion  or 
of  capricious  whim,  —  a  power  without  a  conscience,  whose 
mission  and  purpose  it  is  to  use  us  up  in  every  sense,  and  then, 
when  we  are  powerless,  remorselessly  whistle  us  down  the  wind, 
shatter  our  peace,  wreck  all  our  hopes,  and  land  our  bodies 
under  the  sod,  and  our  immortal  souls,  before  their  time,  where 
they  are  not  wanted  ;  for  no  soul  can  be  fully  ripe  and  prepared 
for  the  change  until  its  work  below  is  finished  ;  no  soul  can  be 
wanted  in  the  higher  worlds  unless  it  be  pure,  clean,  sound,  and 
well-fitted  for  transplanting  in  the  garden  of  our  God  on  the 
other  side  of  Time.  Therefore  it  is  incumbent  on  us  all  to 
never  forget,  but  to  ever  remember,  that  if  we  are  driven  by  im- 
pulse as  against  sound,  healthy  principle,  we  may,  under  its 
persuasive  spell,  which  is,  after  all,  but  a  disguised,  yet  sharp 
and  cruel  spur,  be  caused  to  do  many  a  foolish  act,  and  after- 
ward, when  looking  back  upon  our  whim  and  its  consequences, 
wring  our  hands  in  anguish,  and  wonderingly,  weeping  bitterly 
repentant  tears  all  the  while,  exclaim,  when  too  late,  "  Who'd  'a 
thought  it !  "  Avoid  all  such  disastrous  chances,  which  can 
only  be  done  by  prayerfully,  sincerely  keeping  the  lines  of  a 
true  individuality  intact  and  distinct  —  by  ever  being  strongly 
one's  self,  in  the  higher,  nobler,  holier  sense.  If  we  fail,  there's 
no  telling  where,  when,  or  how  the  baneful  results  may  end. 
A  little  timely  common  sense  is,  in  matters  of  the  soul's  affec- 
tions and  the  heart,  worth  whole  tons  of  the  modern  stuff 
absurdly  called  "  Philosophy  ; "  for  but  very  few  of  the  philoso- 
phers have  enough  common  sense,  or  honesty  either,  to  last  them 
over  night,  seeing  that  they  preach  a  great  deal  more  good  than 
they  practise.  Millions  of  very  good  people  have  been  vic- 
timized by  a  specious  sophism  well  put ;  and  have  been  ruined 
soul,  body,  and  morals,  just  because  they  failed  to  "  keep  cool'' 
a  moment,  and  in  that  moment  lost  sight  of  prudence  and  the 
right  path,  by  reason  of  the  murky  haze  of  what  may  not  ira- 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  41 

properly  be  called  u  high-falutin"  philosophy,  physical,  mag- 
netical,  metaphysical,  transcendental,  and — jackassical,  that 
is  —  Wetherbee-ish. 

It  is  altogether  a  too  common  mistake  in  people  to  either 
confound  the  amatory  passion  with  the  principle  of  love,  or  to 
imagine  that  as  love's  object  and  principal  mission  to  man  ;  and 
a  greater  or  more  fatal  error  never  yet  existed.  True  it  is  that 
in  normal,  healthful  marriage,  that  element  and  its  triplicate 
offices  are  good  under  proper  circumstances, — the  holiest,  most 
sacred  and  mysterious,  in  the  whole  domain  of  our  wonderful 
existence ;  but  are  only  such  when  kept  in  leading  strings,  for 
then  they  are  excellent  servitors  at  the  banquet  of  life  ;  but  if 
they  are  allowed  to  assume  too  great  importance,  and  usurp  the 
place  of  love  itself;  if  passion  be  let  loose,  its  moral  leash 
unfastened,  it  will  soon  get  the  upper  hand,  be  dissatisfied  at 
home,  and  go  abroad  to  appease  its  abnormally  whetted  appe- 
tite, and  then  farewell  Peace,  Quiet,  Happiness,  Home;  for  it 
forthwith  becomes  an  inexorable  tyrant  and  master,  wanting  all 
it  sees,  but  wanting  nothing  long !  If  we  become  timely 
apprised  of  its  power,  its  baleful  taste  for  variety  ;  if  we  keep 
wide  awake,  hold  the  reins  with  a  firm  hand,  it  will  amble  most 
beautifully  along  the  lanes  of  life  ;  but  if  we  let  it  once  catch 
us  napping,  it  will  seize  the  bit  between  its  teeth,  and  the  vic- 
tim finds  himself — or  she  does  —  astride  a  furious  steed,  des- 
perately bent  on  galloping  its  rider  to  perdition  in  the  shortest 
possible  period  of  time.  But  says  the  caviller,  "You  can't  keep 
cool  always,  when  blood,  brain,  nerves,  and  fancy  are  all  on 
fire ;  and  if  love  attacks  us  fiercely,  reason  goes  to  sleep,  and 
passion  steps  in  and  proves  its  power  to  make  fools  of  the 
strongest,  wisest,  firmest,  and  holiest  man  or  woman  that 
ever  breathed  the  air  in  this  or  any  other  land  !  "  The  answer 
to  this  is  simple.  He  or  she  who  cannot  command. him  or  her- 
self are  neither  man  nor  woman,  but  only  grown-up  children. 
There  are  two  general  classes  of  people  in  the  world,  —  the 
creatures  of  impulse,  and  those  in  whom  cool  reason  reigns  par- 
amount. The  last  are  those  who  can,  do,  and  will  resist  what- 
ever is  injurious,  even  if  by  that  resistance  the}'  both  give  and 


42  WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

suffer  pain.  It  has   already  been   proven  that   genuine  love 

strengthens.  Hence  it  follows  that  weaklings  have  that  lesson 
yet  to  learn ! 


CHAPTER  III. 

If  all  parents  loved  each  other  as  they  should, —  and  they 
have  no  right  to  become  such  unless  they  do,  for  the  vested 
interests  of  society  are  injured,  directly  a  child  is  born  from  a 
union  where  love  reigns  not,  but  which  is  launched  on  the  sea 
of  life  amidst  domestic  infelicity  and  social  storms,  out  of 
which  launchings  spring  ten-elevenths  of  the  sin,  vice,  mis- 
ery, wretchedness,  and  crime,  under  which  the  world  is  groaning 
to-day,  and  will  continue  to  until  love  and  marriage  are  better 
understood  and  their  laws  obeyed  than  they  have  been,  in  our 
time  at  least ;  were  they  thus  heeded  —  not  one  of  us  but  would 
be  happier  for  it,  even  if  we  were  not  personal  sharers  in  the 
direct  benefits  ;  because  if  others  are  happ}^,  that  sort  of  a 
"  sphere  "  must  environ  them,  and  of  course  all  of  us  must  per- 
force have  some  of  the  general  joy  reflected  upon  us. 

When  we  have  love-troubles,  we  rush  to  stimulants  to  forget 
our  griefs,  and  of  course  make  matters  ten  times  worse  for  our- 
selves. 

A  quart  of  gin  enabled  him  to  bridge  the  gulf  between  Ida 
soul  and  hers,  and  reach  the  hell  upon  the  further  side.  What 
good  did  it  do?  None!  What  evil?  What  wretchedness? 
Whole  oceans  and  towering  mountains !  Love-troubled  soul, 
never  try  to  escape  the  pang  by  the  bridge  of  drink  or  opium, 
or  anything  but  God's  direct  aid,  for  madness  lies  that  way ! 
Shun  it  as  a  pestilence  or  a  ravening  death,  for  it  means 
destruction  !  If  the  terrible  evil  resulting  from  such  causes 
stopped  with  the  parties  directly  concerned,  it  were  bad  indeed, 
but  it  does  not,  which  is  horrible  ;  for,  flowing  from  that  prolific 
fountain  is  a  constant  and  ever-swelling  stream  of  idiocy,  angu- 
larity, vice,  crime,  imbecility,  insanity,  and  wretchedness  beyond 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  43 

computation,  entailed  upon  the  innocent  children  of  such 
parents ;  consumption,  cancer,  scrofula,  which  are  but  the 
external  forms  of  affectional  disorders,  the  manifestations  of 
violated  love-law,  on  the  part  of  some  one  of  the  foretime ;  nor 
is  there  a  gambler,  robber,  murderer,  or  prostitute  on  earth,  the 
seeds  of  whose  moral  and  mental  disasters  were  not  sown  in  an 
unloving  union  between  father  and  mother  before  the  victims, 
as  well  as  sinners,  were  launched  upon  the  sea  of  life ! 

It  is  somewhat  strange  how  long  a  fact  will  remain  in  com- 
munity wholly  unnoticed  until  some  lucky  observer  points  it 
out ;  and  then  everybody  wonders  why  they  failed  to  see  it 
before.  Now,  here  is  one  of  that  very  identical  family  of  facts  ; 
the  absence  of  love  in  a  household,  as  a  steady,  genuine,  active 
principle,  accounts  fully  for  the  periodic,  and  magnetic  —  be- 
cause magnetic — outbursts  of  anger,  jealousy,  hatred,  quarrels. 
Now  for  »the  fact ;  the  births  of  at  least  six-tenths  of  civilized 
children  occur  within  forty  weeks  after  the  making  up  of  a 
family  quarrel,  —  which  accounts  for  the  bad  milk  in  many 
human  "  cocoa-nuts."  Maternity  just  as  surely  results  in  such 
cases,  as  that  two  and  two  make  four.  The  law  is  natural ;  the 
principle  magnetic ;  results  are  by  reason  of  the  temporary 
reaction  of  the  entire  being ;  and  the  fruit  of  that  tree  must 
perforce  be  gnarled  and  warty,  —  the  resultant  soul  be  dwarfed, 
crooked,  angular,  volcanic,  scoriae,  deranged,  diseased,  de- 
formed. For  "  I  the  Lord  thy  God  .  .  visit  the  sins  of 
the  parents  upon  the  children." 

The  most  sacred  human  right  is  that  of  being  born  in  love, 
of  love,  through  love !  Such  children  never  need  doctors  or 
the  birch  ;  such  youths  never  run  into  bad  courses  ;  such  people 
never  need  lawyers,  jails,  state-prisons,  or  the  gallows ;  and 
over  the  bodies  of  such  people  coroners  never  hold  inquests, 
nor  render  verdicts  "  suicide,  from  unknown  causes ; "  nor 
do  such  persons  thus  parented  ever  need  padded  cells  in  insane 
retreats  to  prevent  them  from  dashing  their  brains  out ;  nor 
are  such  ever  seen  in  low  haunts,  or  reeling  home,  mad  drunk, 
in  the  vain  effort  to  throw  off  a  load  of  chronic  misery,  be- 


44  WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

queathed  to  them  by  parents  who  loved  not  each  other,  and 
brought  them  thither  in  the  midst  of  social  storms. 

Many  of  us  poor  men  and  women  suffer  a  whole  life  through 
because  we  were  launched  into  being  under  just  such  circum- 
stances !  —  a  thing  of  which  there  is  no  need  and  never  will  be  ; 
for  five  minutes  of  cool  talk,  each  party  determining  to  be  just 
and  true,  will  avert  all  quarrels  and  then,  if  after  such 
double  victories  God  gives  increase,  it  will  be  the  growth  of 
summer  tide,  not  the  barren  bleakness  of  cold  and  dreadful 
winter,  —  as  now  ! 

Wives  are  hypocritical  whenever  unloved,  and  will  play  a 
game  of  deception  too  deep  for  the  cunning  of  the  ablest  man 
living !  A  woman's  nature  from  top  to  toe  is  an  eternal 
protest  against  deprivation  of,  or  isolation  in,  love ;  she 
must  love  or  die  ;  else  she  will  steal  —  what  passes  for  it ;  and 
no  man  living  can  prevent  her  if  she  makes  up  ker*mind  to 
gratify,  not  passion,  —  for,  thank  God,  nearly  all  women  are 
above  that!  —  but  her  desire  to  be  loved  and  love  in  return. 
If  a  man  loves  his  wife,  not  all  earth  and  wealth,  and  fame,  and 
power  —  nay,  all  of  them  combined,  with  the  forces  of  Hades  to 
back  them  —  can  win  her  to  a  single  act  against  his  honor  or  her 
own !  In  which  respect  even  the  lowliest  of  her  sex  stands 
towering  in  virtue  and  grandeur  amazingly  above  the  best  man 
who  yet  has  walked  this  modern  earth. 

"  Oh,  the  holocaust  of  human  hearts !  Oh,  the  lakes  of 
bitter  tears  !  and  all  because  affection  is  butchered  and  its  laws 
and  rights  unheeded.  Down  South,  during  the  war,  in  New 
Orleans,  Judge  Salmon  P.  Chase  and  the  writer  of  this  was  at 
the  examination  of  a  negro  school,  officered  by  a  carpet-bagger 
named  Warren,  who,  to  .show  off  his  proficiency  as  teacher,  put 
his  little  sharp-eyed  pupils  through  their  best  paces,  and 
halted  one  whole  class  by  first  asking  them  to  explain  to  the 
judge  that  a  penholder  in  his  hand  was  a  "corrugated" 
utensil;  while  the  reading  book,  was  a  "  parallelopiped  "  in 
shape.  After  it  was  over  one  bright  little  fellow  called  his 
mates  about  him  and  said,  "  De  teacher  said  dat  it  was  a 
barrel  full  o'  pie  plant,  but  I'm  damn  if  'twarn't  a  book ! " 


WOMAN)   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  45 

Well,  a  home  without  love  is  a  parallelopiped,  but  with  it  a 
book !  —  a  book  of  life,  and  joy,  and  peace,  with  a  full  index, 
good  print,  and  illustrated  by  the  King  Artist,  God 
Almighty !  It  is  in  two  volumes,  —  one  to  be  read  and 
mastered  on  earth  ;  the  other  for  perusal  in  heaven,  forever  and 
for  aye. 

It  is  time  that  men  begun  in  reality  to  understand  that  the 
grand  central  thought  of  God  is  Love,  and  that  its  manifested 
incarnation  is  —  Woman  ! 

When  husbands  and  wives  love  each  other,  nature  will  take 
especial  pains  and  pride  in  giving  them  perfect,  diseaseless 
offspring  as  a  result,  just  to  show  her  good  intentions,  and 
what  she  is  capable  of  accomplishing  under  proper  conditions. 

We  have  been  told  very  frequently  of  late  years,  by  various 
"  reformers,"  —  Heaven  save  the  mark  !  —  that  parentage  should 
always  be  on  purpose  and  by  rule,  — just  the  self-same  ones 
that  govern  the  stock-breeder  in  his  farm-yard  ;  totally  oblivious 
of  the  fact  that  human  beings  are  not  on  a  level  with  the  brute 
beasts  of  forest,  field,  and  fen  ;  and  that  an  infinitely  higher 
range  of  laws  are  applicable  to,  and  govern,  man,  than  rules  the 
lowing  herds.  When  that  idea  was  advanced  to  the  author  of 
this  work,  and  an  expression  of  opinion  solicited,  the  reply  was, 
Such  philosophers  are  fools !  What  they  call  philosophy  is 
really  nonsense,  preceded  by  a  clash  and  two  d's  !  People  are 
always  talking  about  man's  animal  passions.  Would  to 
Heaven  he  were  as  pure  and  true  as  are  the  beasts,  for  they 
love,  and  herd  together  year  .in  and  year  out ;  seldom  have 
misunderstandings,  but  bravely  defend  each  other ;  while,  as 
for  ardor,  they  always  use,  but  never  abuse  it !  Its  season  and 
uses  come  and  go,  and  they  obey  the  divine  instinct,  and  then 
wait  content  till  winter  is  away  and  blooming  spring  comes 
once  again.  But  man  !  Excuse  us,  clear  animals,  for  degrad- 
ing you  to  the  level  of  millions  who  pass  for,  but  alas !  are  not, 
men,  because  they  forget,  which  you  never  do,  that  love,  when 
healthy,  is  always  pure,  therefore  ever  tender,  winning,  persua- 
sive, gallant,  chivalrous,  concessive,  emotional,  considerate, 
appealing,   kind,  and   should  be,  mutual.     Beasts   are   never 


46  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MAURI  AGE. 

guilty  of  the  dreadful  crime,  rape  ;  men,  so  called,  notoriously 
are,  whether  a  legal  sanction  stands  its  defence  or  not.  True 
love  is  never  harsh,  hasty,  imperative,  demanding,  cruel,  or 
unjust,  selfish,  importunate,  or  exacting ;  save,  of  course,  on  the 
part  of  the  woman,  down  to  whose  soul  is  descending  the 
divine  elements  of  a  coming  son  or  daughter  ;  and  he  who  will 
not  humor  a  woman  then  is  not  fit  to  have  her,  —  is  less  —  a 
great  deal  less  —  than  half  a  man  ! 

Please,  in  connection  with  what  has  just  been  written,  read 
this  from  Swinburne,  and  read  it  very  slowly,  carefully  :  — 


"Before  the  beginning  of  years 

There  came  to  the  making  of  man 
Time,  with  a  gift  of  tears ; 

Grief,  with  a  glass  that  ran ; 
Pleasure,  with  pain  for  leaven ; 

Summer,  with  flowers  that  fell ; 
Remembrance  fallen  from  heaven, 

And  madness  risen  from  hell ; 
Strength  without  hands  to  smite ; 

Love  that  endures  for  a  breath ; 
Night,  the  shadow  of  light, 

And  life,  the  shadow  of  death. 


"And  the  high  gods  took  in  hand 

Fire,  and  the  falling  of  tears, 
And  a  measure  of  sliding  sand 

Prom  under  the  feet  of  the  years ; 
And  froth  and  drift  of  the  sea, 

And  dust  of  the  laboring  earth, 
And  bodies  of  things  to  be 

In  the  houses  of  death  and  of  birth ; 
And  wrought  with  weeping  and  laughter, 

And  fashioned  with  loathing  and  love 
"With  life  before  and  after, 

And  death  beneath  and  above, 
For  a  day  and  a  night  and  a  morrow 

That  his  strength  might  endure  for  a  span, 
With  travail  and  heavy  sorrow, 

The  holy  spirit  of  man. 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  47 

"  From  the  winds  of  the  north  and  south 

They  gathered  as  unto  strife ; 
They  breathed  upon  his  mouth, 

They  rilled  his  body  with  life ; 
Eyesight  and  speech  they  wrought 

For  the  veils  of  the  soul  therein ; 
A  time  for  labor  and  thought, 

A  time  to  serve  and  to  sin : 
They  gave  him  light  in  his  ways, 

And  love,  and  space  for  delight, 
And  beauty  and  length  of  days, 

And  night,  and  sleep  in  the  night. 

"  His  speech  is  a  burning  fire ; 

With  his  lips  he  travaileth; 
In  his  heart  is  a  blind  desire, 

In  his  eyes  foreknowledge  of  death ; 
He  weaves  and  is  clothed  with  derision, 

Sows  and  shall  not  reap : 
His  life  is  a  watch  or  a  vision 

Between  a  sleep  and  a  sleep." 

Than  that  no  truer  poem  ever  fell  from  human  lips  or  pen , 
because  in  the  new  light  here  thrown  upon  its  recondite  mean- 
ing, it  looms  up  as  a  new  revelation  ! 

Then,  when  she  is  fulfilling  her  sacred  mission,  and  is  in  the 
variable  climate  of  whim,  mood,  caprice,  —  now  December,  then 
July,  anon  running  the  entire  gamut  of  change,  —  he  who  gazes 
on  her  with  other  than  purely  human  eyes  had  better  close 
them ;  for  then  she  is  the  grandest  mystery  that  ever  moved  J 
and  no  true  man  can  then  look  into  the  profound  depths  of  her 
soul  save  in  grateful,  silent,  holy  awe  ;  nor  peer  into  the  laby- 
rinths of  her  divinely  luminous  eyes  without  being  stirred  to 
the  very  floor  of  manhood ;  for  to  look  is  to  be  inspired,  and 
inspiration  and  love  are  twins,  born  of  one  mother,  sired  by  one 
God! 

And  yet,  despite  a  world's  experience,  there  are  what  look  like 
men,  who  insanely  fly  at  a  woman,  in  anger,  mauvaise  ardor,  or 
worse,  then,  when,  if  ever,  she  should  nestle  in  his  heart  and  be 
comforted  and  stilled.     Then,  what  pass  for,  but  are  not  really, 


48  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

men,  neglect  her  more  than  ever,  and  fail  to  render  her  the  love, 
tenderness,  delicacy  and  respect  which  are  her  due,  —  the  due  of 
every  human  woman  when  bearing  the  burden  of  immortality 
from  Eternity  to  Time  !  But  neglect,  ill-treatment,  is  too  often 
her  lot,  and  many  a  woman  has  fallen  into  the  cold  grave  for 
lack  of  sympathy,  love,  and  forbearance,  when  she  needed  it  most. 
There  are  man}'  methods  of  murder  which  are  not  recognized  as 
such  before  human  tribunals,  but  which  are  none  the  less  effect- 
ive, and  murder  for  all  that ;  and  thousands  of  women  have 
been  tortured  and  harassed  into  premature  shrouds,  whom  a 
fair  share  of  decent  consideration  and  affection  would  have  kept 
on  earth  for  many  a  long  and  happy  year.     That  is  murder  ! 

Woman  nature  is  a  very  queer  thing.  Let  a  man  hector  and 
quarrel  with  his  wife  ;  and  immediately  thereafter  let  another 
man  condole  with  her,  and  if  that  husband  does  not  wear  a 
splendid  pair  of  cuckold  horns  it  will  not  be  because  she  is  not 
seducible,  himself  a  dolt,  and  the  sympathizing  condoler  not 
susceptible,  nor  the  opportunity  ready  made ;  for  under  just 
such  circumstances  thousands  of  good  women  have  fallen.  A 
word  to  the  wise,  et  cetera,  and  so  forth ! 

That  is  not  a  model  household,  but  a  very  frequent  one  in 
these  latter  days,  wherein  the  heads  pride  themselves  on  the 
tact  with  which  they  have  mutually  outwitted  each  other  :  where 
the  man,  who,  as  he  discusses  his  morning  chop,  smiles  gayly  in 
his  sleeve  at  his  exploit  of  the  last  night,  and  thinks,  as  he 
looks  at  the  occupant  of  the  chair  at  the  other  end  of  the 
breakfast-table,  "  Oh,  ho,  my  fine  lady,  you're  little  aware  of 
what  a  good  time  I  had  with  Dolly  and  Betty,  and  Polly  and 
Hetty,  and  Miss  Smirk  and  Mrs.  Folloll !  —  ah,  what  a  pleasant 
time !  you  bet !  "  All  the  while  little  dreaming  of  how  she  is 
thinking  as  she  hands  the  matutinal  coffee  :  "  Heigh-ho  !  you 
little  dream  of  what  a  glorious  time  i"  had  with  dear  darling 
Fitz  Augustus  Mountjoy  !  —  the  duck  !  What  a  pair  of  horns 
you  are  wearing,  to  be  sure  !  How  happy  you'd  be  if  you  only 
knew  it,  my  dear !  "  And  so  goes  the  poison  in  society,  ever 
spreading,  ever  spreading!  Who's  to  blame?  Society  itself ! 
which,   by   encouraging    morbid  thought,   and   thinkers,   new- 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  49 

fangled  notions  of  individual  liberty,  and  an  atrocious  abun- 
dance of  "  pkilosophico-scientific,  barnyardistical  sophisms,  has 
lost  sight  of  the  dear  old-fashioned,  true-hearted  loves  of  the 
homeside,  and  has  learned  to  call  vice  by  pleasant-sounding 
names,  as  "individual  sovereignty"  for  libertinism  and  adul- 
tery, "passional  entertainment"  for  barefaced  proftigacy,  and 
"  personal  ownership  "  for  unblushing  prostitution  !  It  is  time 
a  stop  was  put  to  all  such  blasphemous  stuff,  and  all  such 
mental  cancers  lopped  off  before  the  very  life  of  society  is  com- 
pletely sapped,  drained,  ruined. 

In  these  rapid  days  love  in  its  external  phases  has  been  dei- 
fied, while  its  soul  and  spirit  have  utterly  been  lost  sight  of  alto- 
gether ;  and  men  have  become  blinded  to  the  fact  that  too  great 
devotion  at  the  altar  of  mere  sensationalism  and  nervous  life  is 
deeply  injurious  to  all  concerned,  and  is  sure  to  beget  disgust, 
satiety,  and  all  their  fearful  train  ;  for  there  is  no  happiness,  no 
real  joy,  no  genuine,  healthy  pleasure,  when  marriage  rites 
degenerate  into  orgies  fit  only  for  fiends,  never  for  human 
beings.  To  say  nothing  of  the  mental  disasters  accruing  from 
perversion  of  a  natural  sense,  it  inevitably  defeats  its  own  end 
in  a  magnetic  and  nervous  direction  ;  because  the  system  is 
drained  of  its  highest  and  rarest  elements,  the  very  ones  that 
are  needed  in  greatest  abundance  to  enable  us  to  sustain  the 
shocks  and  wear  of  our  daily  life ;  and  instead  of  being  richly 
charged  with  power,  our  lungs  are  robbed  of  oxygen,  the  brain 
of  phosphorus,  and  the  blood  becomes  loaded  down  with  urea, 
carbon,  and  eartlry  phosphates,  impeding  venous  and  arterial 
circulation,  and  laying  the  sure  foundation  of  physical  disor 
ders  ere  life  is  half  ended.  The  lower  brain  becomes  inflamed, 
the  top  brain  dull  and  softened ;  the  baser  passions  intensify, 
and  the  lofty  ones  die  out ;  affection  is  lost  sight  of ;  passion  in 
its  grossest  form  becomes  a  constant  dream  and  motive ;  vio- 
lence and  hatred  are  dreadfully  familiar  to  the  morbid  mind ; 
revenge  takes  the  place  of  generosity  and  forgiveness.  The 
children  are  not  only  pun}-,  weak,  and  imbecile,  if  any  there  be, 
but  short-lived  and  vicious  besides.  How  can  they  be  otherivise 
when  the   heart  of  one  parent  is  sad  and  broken,  the  other 


50  WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

robbed  by  excess  and  bad  babits,  too  faithfully  followed,  of 
every  generous  impulse,  having  wasted  its  holy  treasures,  and 
lost  the  capacity  to  feel  affection  ?  The  very  sense  of  manhood 
grows  dull ;  the  soul  never  thrills  with  the  power  of  great  and 
mighty  thought ;  the  emotional  and  devotional  nature  dies  out ; 
tears  are  strangers  to  the  eye  — for  the  man  who  cannot  weep  is 
lost! — and  the  rich  garden  of  the  human  soul  becomes  trans- 
formed into  an  arid  wilderness  of  misery  and  woe  ;  and  none 
the  less  so  because  pride  represses  all  external  evidences 
thereof. 

Doubt  it  who  may,  it  is  none  the  less  true,  that  from  thought- 
less error  in  the  line  here  discussed,  mainly,  have  sprung  forth 
the  myriad  hells  at  the  hearth-stone  which  of  late  years  have  so 
disgraced  our  nation  and  our  age.  Nor  is  that  all ;  because  it 
is  a  law  of  nature,  impressed  by  the  finger  of  the  Eternal  One, 
that  whoever  disobeys  the  same  must  suffer  the  inevitable 
penalty  of  the  transgression,  in  deprivation  of  true  happiness 
and  joy,  if  in  no  other  way  ;  for  the  very  soul  becomes  dwarfed, 
crooked,  angular,  parts  with  all  its  finer,  nobler,  better  feelings, 
its  brightest  hopes  and  anticipations,  and  the  fountains  of 
domestic  bliss  are  transformed  into  well-springs  of  bitterness, 
horror,  self-reproach,  remorse,  unavailing  and  complete, 
because  the  true  fire  has  died  out,  and  the  baleful  flames  of 
alcohol  are  too  often  substituted  in .  its  place.  Love !  The 
meaning  of  the  word  is  no  longer  known,  for  it  sickened  unto 
haggardness  and  death,  and  then,  on  broken  wing,  flew  baok  to 
Heaven,  whence  God  had  sent  it  aforetime  to  bless  and  happify 
mankind.  But  now,  murdered  outright  nearly,  the  spot  where 
holy  flowers  once  bloomed  has,  under  the  reign  of  that  single 
error,  become  the  play-ground  of  fierce,  red  passions  whose 
sport  brings  desolation  —  oh  !  how  terrible  !  —  to  both  sinner  and 
sinned  against. 

The  office  of  the  true  teacher  is,  not  to  be  silly,  and  harp 
forever  on  the  "  fundamentals  of  science,"  or  deliver  oceans  of 
gabble  about  "  basic  principles,"  "  positives,  negatives,  and 
supercelestialized  formative,  subtending  universological  con- 
glomerate," —  tomfoolery,  which  no  one  can  understand*  and 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AXD   MARRIAGE.  51 

few  care  about  tiying  to ;  which  accounts  for  so  many  works 
on  love,  sexism,  and  the  like,  still  pressing  heavily  the  book- 
sellers' shelves.  But  it  is  the  duty  of  a  teacher  to  so  clearly 
set  forth  even  his  most  delicate  meaning,  as  to  be  clearly 
comprehended  without  shocking  the  reader's  sense  of  refine- 
ment ;  thus,  feeling  the  mission  to  be  holy,  he  or  she  at  once 
appeals  to  human  reason,  and  becomes  an  alleviator  of  human 
ill,  whatever  be  its  character. 

On  the  desk  where  this  is  written,  lies  —  in  a  double  sense!  — 
a  recent  work  on  marriage,  the  author  of  which  opposes  the 
institution  in  toto,  —  partly  on  the  ground  that  "the  constitu- 
tion of  man  enables  him  to  perform  and  enjoy  certain  functions 
of  his  sex  at  almost  any  time,  and  with  almost  any  associate," 
ergo  he  is  justified  in  so  doing  !  Secondly,  we  are  informed  that 
there  are  no  marriages  in  heaven,  consequently  there  should  be 
none  on  earth.  Now,  a  sufficient  answer  to  all  such  juvenile 
twaddle  and  greens  —  for  this  "coming  philosopher"  is  only 
twenty-five  !  —  is,  that  Love  seeks  its  own  to  hold  and  maintain, 
and  monogamic  marriage,  the  constancy  of  each  to  the  other, 
is  the  expression  of  the  divine  idea,  the  builder-up  of  human 
happiness ;  while  on  the  other  hand,  promiscuity  is  utterly 
subversive  of  nobilit}^  of  character  and  of  eveiything  else 
elevating  to  human  kind.  If  a  stronger  refutation  of  the 
wretched  absurdity  is  needed,  it  is  found  in  the  fact,  that 
nowhere  within  the  pale  of  civilization  has,  can,  or  ever  will 
be  found  a  sane,  healthful,  normal  man  who,  loving  a  woman, 
is  either  willing  to  share  her  favors  with  another  man ;  or  is,  or 
can  be,  capable  of  so  doing ;  or  who  would  not  writhe  in  un- 
speakable agony  of  soul  at  the  bare  idea,  much  less  the  actual 
knowledge,  that  the  woman  thus  loved  had  fallen  from  her 
high  estate,  and  granted  to  another  man  what  belongs  exclu- 
sively to  himself.  It  is  said  "  belongs,"  for  a  man  married  to  a 
woman  in  love  is  a  part  of  her,  and  she  a  part  of  him,  else  why 
the  fearful  anguish  to  either  when  untoward  circumstances  tear 
them  asunder?  Talk  of  death,  torture,  the  rack  !  Why,  all  this 
may  be  borne  with  courage  and  fortitude ;  but  when  you  tear 
a  woman  from  him  she  loves,  or  a  man  from  her  he  worships, 


52  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

then  comes  misery  indeed,  and  woe  unspeakable,  and  the 
racked  soul  cries  in  agony,  Eloi,  eloi,  lama  sabacthani !  My 
God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  !  Ah,  the  heart,  the 
heart,  O  woman  of  the  gray  blue  eye,  was  an  unknown  land 
in  realitjr,  till  thou  didst  point  it  out  to  the  thereunto  blinded 
soul !  taught  it  through  the  stern  lesson  of  thy  heartless  double- 
dealing,  that  love  and  passion  are  not  sisters,  but  only  cousins- 
german ;  that  Love  alone  is  capable  of  subduing  and  re- 
moulding human  life  and  character.  Love !  Ah  what  a  vast 
and  unsounded,  unfathomed,  unimagined  eternity  of  meaning 
lies  hidden  in  the  word  !  What  a  world  of  bliss  were  ours  were 
that  one  word  comprehended,  and  its  holy  laws  obeyed !  Yet 
they  will  be  by  and  by.     God  is  great ! 

One  God,  one  Religion,  one  Trust,  one  Love,  —  these  are 
sufficient  to  fill  the  measure  of  the  grandest  soul,  but  it  often 
requires  a  moral  earthquake  to  lead  us  to  that  transcendant 
discovery ;  when  we  do  we  have  reached  the  religion  of  Man- 
hood ! 

If  we  have  our  reason  cool,  and  weigh  things  in  the  scales  of 
justice,  we  cannot  help  concluding  that  every  gust  of  jealousy, 
anger,  suspicion,  and  bad  passion  of  every  sort,  which  occa- 
sionally sweep  over  the  best  of  us  is,  after  all,  but  discipline, 
intended  by  Him  who  placed  us  on  the  sea  of  apparent,  but 
not  real,  accident  and  circumstance,  to  subserve  ends  and  uses 
in  the  far-off  future,  hidden  from  us,  but  not  from  the  Maker. 
If  we  yield  to  them  we  lose  ground  in  every  sense  ;  the  lower 
nature  rises  to  the  surface,  and  the  sun  of  man  and  womanhood 
sinks  beneath  the  sea.  How  criminal,  then,  are  we  who  permit 
these  storms  to  mar  the  serenity  of  our  immortal  souls  ;  and 
that,  too,  when  we  know  full  well  that  in  the  very  moment 
wherein  we  cry  "  God  help  us ! "  God  himself,  with  out- 
stretched arm,  is  there,  to  succor  and  to  save !  Whoever 
depend  upon  their  own  strength  for  power  to  withstand  temp- 
tation, beat  back  the  foes  of  their  souls,  and  gain  victories  over 
themselves,  depend  altogether  upon  broken  reeds.  There  is  a 
God  in  heaven,  and  his  power  is  abroad  in  the  world,  no  matter 
what  crack-brained  sophists  may  affirm  to  the  contrary ;   and 


WOMAN,    LOVE,  AND   MARRIAGE.  53 

that  divine  power  alone  is  able  to  render  us  strong  for  the  right 
and  against  the  wrong  !  Most  of  us  have  very  powerful  evil 
tendencies  to  contend  with,  and  we  cannot  do  it  single- 
handed  and  alone.  By  reason  of  the  mysterious  action  of  the 
law  of  hereditary  descent,  the  best  man  or  woman  living  is 
liable,  under  certain  peculiar  conditions  and  excitements,  to 
break  the  restraining  cords  and  startle  their  friends  and  the 
world  by  a  burst  of  temper  which  is,  in  other  words,  but  a  form 
of  positive  insanitj^,  which,  if  it  do  not  rush  him  or  her  into 
sudden  crime,  at  least  is  very  likely  to  create  disagreements 
and  antipathies  such  as  no  subsequent  repentance  can  atone 
for.  We  are  none  of  us  so  perfect  but  that  there  majr  come  a 
time  wherein  the  bad  of  the  foretime,  the  baleful  poison  handed 
down  from  distant  progenitors,  may  be  awakened  and  ooze  up 
from  the  floors  of  our  being,  through  some  dark  crevice  or 
cranny  of  our  natures,  left  there  when  we  were  struck  into 
being.  Now  it  is  comparatively  easy  work  to  fight  against 
acquired  bad  habits,  but  when,  in  addition  to  our  own,  we  have 
to  contend  with  another  host  of  them  transmitted  to  us  from 
two  hundred  years  gone  by,  and  which  perhaps  have  been 
silently  gathering  volume  and  force  ever  since,  then  indeed  it 
is  up-hill  work  and  no  mistake ;  and  he  or  she  who  wins  against 
such  odds  is  indeed  heroic  ! 

Totally  setting  aside  all  theories  and  h}-potheses  concerning 
the  absolute  origin  of  the  human  soul  itself,  —  whether  it,  like 
the  body  it  wears  on  earth  for  a  longer  or  shorter  period  of 
time,  originates,  springs  into  being  in  the  first  instance,  at,  or 
shortly  after,  the  point  of  time  wherein  the  ph}'sical  nucleus 
finds  a  lodgment,  and  begins  its  wonderful  growth  and  unfokl- 
ment  from  gelatinous  monad  to  full-fledged  soulhood ;  or 
whether  the  immortal  spark  had  a  prior  existence  here  or 
elsewhere ;  whether  it  is  brought  into  being  by  the  mingling 
of  elements  furnished  by  each  parent,  or  whether  it  exists  as  a 
point  in  the  brain  of  the  male  parent,  and  is  subsequently 
clothed  upon  by  the  dear  mother  ;  certain  it  is,  whether  either 
of  them  be  the  true  solution  of  the  mighty  and  involute  mystery 
or  not,  that  its  career  on  earth  must  be  good,  bad,  better,  or 


54  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

worse,  in  exact  ratio  and  proportion  as  were,  or  are,  the  pro- 
genitors just  precedent  to,  and  at  the  moment  of  the  primary 
office  ;  and  also  in  accordance  with  their  good  or  ill  condition, 
in  all  respects,  during  gestation,  as  well  as  for  some  years 
thereafter. 

It  is  generally  held  that  the  male  parent  has  nothing  what- 
ever in  any  way  to  do  with  the  formation  of  the  character,  or 
plvysique  of  the  child,  from  conception,  till  long  after  the  new 
being  has  been  an  inhabitant  of  the  world.  This,  however,  is 
unquestionably  a  very  grave  error,  and  a  very  pernicious  notion  ; 
and  for  many  reasons  ;  among  which  are,  first,  the  mother's 
office  is  one  of  love,  and  she  is  almost  wholly  dependent  upon 
the  father  of  her  unborn  child,  during  her  entire  maternal  period, 
for  the  store  of  true  affection  which  it  is  her  office  to  crystallize 
in  the  babe  she  is  giving  to  God  and  the  world.  Second,  she 
depends  upon  him  for  the  intellectual  stimulus  essential  to  the 
perfection  of  the  brain  of  her  babe  ;  and,  third,  she  needs  the 
continued  flow  of  strong  vital  electricity  and  magnetism  of  her 
husband,  to  enable  her  to  round  out  and  fill  up  the  nature, 
body  and  character  of  the  new  heir ;  and  thus  in  a  triple  sense, 
not  to  mention  scores  of  others,  does  the  male  parent  assist  in 
the  formation  of  and  rounding  out  of  the  physical,  mental, 
moral,  ethical,  electric,  magnetic,  and  nervous  system  of  their 
offspring ;  which  offices  can  never  be  properly  filled  unless  love 
reigns  lord  of  the  household  !  Deprived  of  these  essentials  to  a 
perfect  maternity,  the  offspring  must  of  necessity  be  lacking  in 
the  prime  elements, —  be  a  one-sided  halfness,  and  angular,  from 
the  fact  that  it  must,  will,  and  does,  receive  impressions  from 
others,  which  impressions  being  fitful,  changeful,  kaleidoscopic, 
necessarily  make  the  child  correspondently.  But  if  the  father 
loves,  and  is  near  the  mother,  those  impressions  are  prevented, 
other  influences  barred  out,  and  the  child  becomes  in  very  deed 
a  well-spring  of  joy  and  pleasure  in  the  home. 

Eeason,  nature,  common  sense,  all  sustain  the  position  here 
laid  down,  and  proclaim  the  principle  of  this  new  discovery  to 
be  of  very  truth  itself.  The  points  here  set  forth  directly  (and 
there  are  scores  of  momentous  suggestions  connected  therewith) 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  55 

are  too  important  to  be  hastily  passed  over ;  for  upon  them,  to 
a  far  greater  extent  than  is  seen  upon  the  surface,  depends  the 
happiness  or  misery,  not  only  of  countless  hosts  now  living  and 
playing  their  parts  in  the  great  drama  of  life  and  love,  but  also 
upon  them  hinges  the  tremendous  question  whether  our  children 
shall  come  into  the  world  born  thralls  of  vice,  impulse,  excite- 
ment, and  barbarism,  ground  into  their  very  marrow,  or  enter 
on  the  race  of  existence  with  calm  temperaments,  solid  pbys- 
iques,  enduring  brain  and  nervous  force,  and  be  bright  and 
shining  lights  in  a  world  of  thick  moral  fog  and  darkness  ; 
and  this  great  question  is  one  that  each  parent  must  put  to 
him  or  herself,  and  for  the  true  verdict  their  own  souls  and 
the  Eternal  Father  will  assuredly  hold  them  responsible, 
sooner  or  later,  here  or  beyond  the  surging  river. 

In  this  connection  comes  up,  naturally,  the  question  "  How?" 
The  answer  is  :  husband,  prospective  father,  a  child  is  wealth  !  — 
wealth,  sir  !  richer  than  Golconda's  mines,  —  and  it  is  your  first, 
middle,  and  final  duty  to  be  patient,  kind,  affable,  and  all  else 
that  you  ought  to  be,  in  all  the  trifles  of  life  and  love  and  hus- 
bandage  and  fatherhood  ;  for,  after  all,  it  is  the  trifles,  so  called, 
that  constitute  the  sum  of  existence,  and  make  or  mar  human 
happiness  generally,  but  especially  that  of  love  and  marriage 

It  is  perhaps  well,  at  this  point,  that  reference  should  be  made 
to  what  no  better  appellation  can  be  given  than  that  of  consti- 
tutional vampirism  ;  hence,  advantage  is  here  taken  of  another 
work  from  the  same  pen  and  brain,  to  quote  therefrom : 
[Dhoula  Bel  :  or,  the  Magic  Globe.]  It  is  clearly  demonstra- 
ble that  parents  affect  the  fate  or  fortunes,  the  happiness  or  mis- 
ery of  the  child  before  that  child  is  born  ;  and  so  positively,  too 
that  no  subsequent  training  can  wholly  overcome  the  inherited 
bias  —  no  possible  washing,  thoroughly  remove  the  stain.  The 
influences  exerted  upon  the  unborn  will  display  themselves  all 
along  that  child's  career  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave  ;  and  the 
satisfactory  solution  of  the  great  problem  of  human  evil  is 
easily  found  in  that  selfsame  law  of  descent  and  transmitted 
bias,  aptitude  and  appetite.  When  evil  rules  openly  or  secretly, 
whether  of  apparent  choice  or  strong  impulsion,  derived  from 


56  WOMAN,   LOVEs   AND   MARRIAGE. 

ancestry,  there  ensues  a  battle  to  the  death  between  the  Shadow 
and  the  Light,  in  whosoever's  soul  and  body  the  combatants  are 
pitted  against  each  other. 

Many  a  man  has  been  jailed,  state-prisoned,  and  even  hung 
upon  gibbets,  execrated  of  all  mankind,  not  for  his  own  sins, 
but  for  those  of  his  fathers  before  him ;  and  many  a  good 
woman  has  fallen  into  adulterous  practices,  not  of  her  own  free 
choice,  but  by  reason  of  the  sudden  development  of  an  over- 
powering impulse,  which,  perhaps,  took  its  rise  a  hundred  years 
before,  at  some  stolen  interview  or  love-passage  of  her  progeni- 
tors, and  which,  like  the  seeds  of  consumption,  slept  through 
entire  generations,  and  then  leapt  to  life  and  frightful  power 
under  some  extraordinary  condition  in  which  she  happened  to 
be  placed  !  It  is  well  that  man's  judgment  is  not  final ;  and  it 
is  sweet  to  think  that  God  will  hold  us  responsible  for  those  sins 
wholly  our  own,  and  not  for  thee  razy,  cranky,  sick  abnormali- 
ties which  we  develop  by  reason  of  pressure,  not  of  our  own 
creation. 

Mankind  are  yet  to  learn  that  evil  qualities  and  their  fruitage 
can  only  be  permanently  displaced  by  replacing  them  with  good 
ones  handed  down  from  parent  to  child  all  along  the  line  of 
years ;  for  the  human  race,  like  a  turbid  pond,  can  only  settle 
itself  and  become  pure  by  the  operation  of  forces  alike  resident 
in  each.  Not  until  then  will  the  world  be  better  than  it  is 
to-day  ;  for  it  is  of  no  use  for  us  to  try  to  permanently  improve 
anything  but  our  own  characters,  nature,  tendencies  and  pro- 
clivities. The  human  constitution,  unlike  those  of  states,  can- 
not be  "  resolved"  into  better  conditions,  nor  be  amended,  even 
by  a  "  two-thirds  rule."  That  grand  consummation  can  only  be 
effected  b3r  personal  anabyses,  elimination  of  the  bad,  substitu- 
tion of  the  good,  and  persistent  sticking  to  it,  by  the  quicken- 
ing aid  of  a  cultivated  conscience,  and  the  strengthening  power 
of  a  normal  will.  It  cannot  be  achieved  by  patent  nostrums  of  the 
pseudo-scientifico-philosophical  schools,  because  these  are,  at 
bottom,  but  very  pretty  moonshine,  and  just  about  as  solid,  only 
a  million  times  more  injurious,  because  so  specious  as  to 
look  like  truth,  when  in   fact  they  are  but   sugar-coated   false- 


WOATAX,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  bl 

hoods,  whose  kernels,  like  modern  pills,  are  very  aloetic,  bitter, 
nauseous,  productive  of  moral  consumption,  affectional  scrof- 
ula, and  heart  cancers,  wholly  incurable,  save  by  the  sharp 
knife  of  suffering  and  the  invoked  aid  of  the  Omnipotent. 

It  is  perhaps  not  strange  that,  look  where  you  will,  you  will 
find  that  the  most  rabid  free-lovers  are  the  most  vehement  God- 
deniers  !  and  wherever  3-ou  find  one,  you  are  sure  to  discover  that 
one  hat  covers  both  characters.  During  the  past  twenty  years 
there  has  arisen  and  flourished  about  forty  socialistic  maniacs 
in  this  country,  nearly  all  of  them  atheistic,  and  quite  all  bent 
on  destro}*ing  marriage,  inaugurating  the  good  time  coming  by 
making  every  man  a  contemptible  human  dog,  and  ever}'  woman 
a  victim.  Lunatics  every  one  of  them,  with  but  one  idea,  and 
that  only  half  digested.  Others  of  the  ilk  who  rode,  and  still 
ride,  as  hobbies,  various  so-called  social-science  schemes,  reasoned 
in  circles,  reached  their  views  of  truth  by  the  reductio  ad  absur- 
dum  over  the  pons  assinorum, —  sheer  impracticables,  who  caught 
and  used  man}*  a  good  man  and  woman,  and,  of  course, 
wrecked  them  soul  and  body  ;  for  these  fellows,  many  of  whom 
were  spiritualists,  of  both  genders,  did,  and  still  do,  invite  people 
to  go  to  heaven  on  the  cars  of  morbid  ••  philosophy"  as  a  name, 
but  shameless  licentiousness  as  a  practice.  TTe  are  writing 
by  the  card  now,  and  hinting  at,  not  telling,  facts.  Let  the 
defiance  come,  and  the  gauntlet  will  be  instantly  lifted  ;  because 
at  this  end  of  twenty  }'ears'  knowledge  of  the  whole  radical  move- 
ment, the  writer  is  unable  to  point  to  one  of  the  various  leaders 
of  it  who  was  not  either  a  knave,  idiot,  or  insane,  3-et,  operating 
as  a  social  force,  these  schemers,  from  the  da}*s  of  Mountain  Cove 
to  the  Ohio  villains  and  villany,  spread  desolation  far  and  wide, 
ruined  families  by  thousands,  made  honest  men  dupes,  turned 
dupes  into  rogues,  and,  defying  God,  scattered  the  seeds  of  death 
and  hell  broadcast  over  the  fertile  acres  of  the  land ;  and  the 
remnant  of  the  wretches  are  doing  it  to-day,  urged  on  by  lust- 
fires  lighted  at  the  lamps  of  Hell.  Thank  God,  their  day  is 
nearly  closed,  and  common  sense  and  decency  are  gradually 
but  effectually  crushing  out  what  little  of  life  is  left  them.  Out 
of  this  class  sprung  mainly  what  is  here  intended  to  be  dis- 


58  WOMAK,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

sected,  —  the  destroying  thing  called  Vampirism.  If  the  dread- 
ful dreams  of  these  social  reformers,  these  abrogators  of  mar- 
riage, could  —  which,  thank  God,  they  cannot !  —  be  carried  out 
in  general  practice,  civilization  would  not  endure  a  century,  but 
grim  gaunt  chaos  come  again.  Give  such  people  full  swing, 
and,  if  they  could,  they  would  fling  the  Lord  God  off  the  uni- 
versal throne,  in  their  mad  career  of  havoc  and  destruction,  and 
then,  whirling  all  heaven  across  the  abyss,  hurtle  the  eternal 
seraphs  down  to  the  yeasty  deeps  of  nether  space.  But  being 
limited,  they  can  only  wreak  their  hatred  of  all  good,  by  denying 
his  existence  and  desecrating  his  hoty  image  —  humankind  ;  for 
to  them  what  is  man  but  concentred  lust,  what  woman  but  his 
victim,  what  life  but  a  field  for  passion's  foul  display?  The 
morbid  host  have  concocted  scores  of  patent  panaceas  for  the 
cure  of  all  social  ills,  but  who  has  ever  been  benefited  thereby? 
Riug  out  the  inquiry  upon  the  air,  let  it  echo  over  all  the  earth, 
let  it  swell  upon  the  spaces,  and  reverberate  from  the  ramparts 
of  heaven,  Who?  and  the  mournful  echo  will  catch  the  sound 
and  fling  it  back  in  multitudinous  waves,  until  sound  itself  shall 
die  exhausted,  as  the  quick  ear  catches  a  sibilant  Who?  That 
only. 

Their  dogmas  are  false  ;  their  doctrines  disastrous,  freighted 
with  ten  times  more  death  than  life,  misery  than  happiness,  vice 
than  virtue,  weakness  than  strength ;  with  no  religion,  trust, 
faith  or  charity  whatever  ;  no  social  power,  but  only  disruptive 
forces ;  no  manhood,  no  womanhood,  no  good,  no  logic,  but 
plenty  of  flimsy  sophistry,  and  not  a  spark  of  courage  to  meet 
in  fair  encounter  the  champions  of  Religion,  Virtue,  Christ  and 
God  ;  —  sneaking,  lying  poltroons  at  the  head  and  foot  of  the 
movement,  out  of  the  middle  of  which  flows  a  corrupting  stream, 
a  gulf  of  infamy  on  whose  festering  tide,  born  of  moral  fecu- 
lence, which  finally  takes  life  and  stalks  about  the  world,  —  a 
moving  collocation  and  condensation  of  all  unseemly  unsightly, 
ungodly  things,  and  to  which  we  are  about  to  turn  our  atten- 
tion.    Its  name  is  Vampirism  ! 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND    MARRIAGE.  59 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Every  gust  of  Ador-amatory,  every  gush  of  love  exhausts 
unless  returned.  The  prolific  cause  of  untold  thousands  of 
wife-deaths  springs  from  this  fact ;  for  -where  a  wife  goes  out  in 
love,  pure,  tender,  gentle  and  sweet,  in  these  modern  days,  the 
chances  are  five  hundred  to  one  but  that  she  is  misunderstood 
and  met  with  a  different  kind  of  fiery  storm,  heavily  freighted 
with  death  to  her,  and  but  poorly  calculated  to  afford  real  joy 
to  him. 

How  long,  O  Lord,  how  long,  will  it  be  before  all  us  who 
hope  we  are,  and  believe  we  are,  immortal  beings,  will  learn  the 
first  great  lesson  of  immortality,  and  understand  that  union, 
mutuality,  reciprocal  interchange  of  all  kindly  deeds  and  wishes 
and  offices,  —  one  tune,  one  mission,  one  desire,  one  hope, 
intent,  aim,  object,  and  purpose,  —  is  the  sole  rule  and  law  of 
married  love  !  How  long  will  it  be  before  men  discover  that  to 
merely  gain  a  shell  is  often  to  wholly  lose  the  jewel ;  but  that 
whoso  wins  the  contents  of  the  casket,  the  glittering  gem, 
wins  casket  and  all,  and  more  beside,  more  than  will  satisfjr 
the  largest  hope !     Yet  that  lesson  must  be  learned. 

Passing  wholly  by  the  reformers,  —  Rapp,  Owen,  Compte, 
Fourier  and  men  of  that  grade,  —  all  of  whom  left  the  world  a 
great  deal  purer  and  better  than  they  found  it ;  even  skipping 
past  Joe  Smith,  Ann  Lee,  and  John  H.  Noyes,  as  persons  who 
had  a  good  motive  in  their  movements,  and  really  believed  their 
own  doctrines,  we  will  pass  at  once  to  the  lesser,  and  infinitely 
more  mischievous  new  lights, — the  grain-devouring  rodents  of 
society,  —  the  pestiferous  rats  and  mice  of  the  social  move- 
ment,— men  and  women  with  some  brains,  but  no  moral  pro- 
portions whatever.  Most  of  these  came  to  the  surface  along 
with  modern  spiritualism,  diverged  from  it  somewhat,  and  — 
inspired  by  ambition  to  either  figure  or  make  an  odor  in  the 
world  —  they  mainly,  and  triumphantly  achieved  the  latter  — 
and  a  very  unpleasant  one  it  was.  Doubtless  among  this  flux 
of  Eolists,  mountebanks,  and  moon-struck  fanatics,  there  may 


60  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

have  been  one  or  two  honestly  believing  themselves  loftily  in- 
spired by  divine  ideas  ;  but  all  of  them  save  one  alone,  the  head-, 
centre  of  the  foul  brigade,  shall  be  nameless  herein,  because 
their  lucubrations  are  beneath  contempt,  as  indeed  are  those  of 
nearly  all  other  people  of  one  idea. 

Standing  alone  in  his  nasty  glory  was  Andrews,  the  self- 
styled  "Pantarch"  and  free-lover  general,  who,  while  pretend- 
ing to  be  a  reformer,  really  knew  as  much  about  social  science 
as  a  long-eared  jackass  does  of  algebraic  equations,  yet  had  he 
brains  enough  to  gather  not  a  few  cracked-head,  passion-driven 
fools  about  him,  all  of  whom  considered  rape  and  seduction  a 
fine  art  and  justifiable,  and  hailed  concubinage  as  lofty  gospel. 
But  the  theme  is  too  vile  for  these  pages,  their  creed  too  horri- 
ble and  disgusting. 

These  reasoners  mistake  worms  in  their  brains  for  splendid 
ideas,  and  their  wrigglings  for  the  grand  movements  of  the  vor- 
tex of  vortices,  and  morbid  cogitations  for  profound  thought. 
Such  men  sometimes  pride  themselves  upon  their  culture,  and 
fancy  they  are  right,  simply  because  they  are  not  openly  coarse 
and  brutal.  A  greater  mistake  was  never  made  ;  for  the  more 
refined  a  man  is,  the  more  dangerous  and  cruel  he  becomes,  if 
his  devotional  or  religious  nature  is  in  abeyance  to  his  intellect- 
ual and  esthetic. 

Passional  vice  in  all  its  forms  is  carried  to  greater  refine- 
ments of  abomination  among  the  cultured  than  the  plebeian 
classes,  for  reasons  self-apparent ;  and  the  writer  of  this  is 
aware  of  wealthy  wretches  in  New  York  and  Boston,  whose 
passional  crimes,  and  deep  and  damning  perversions  of  the 
instinct,  are  altogether  too  horrible  and  infamous  to  be  men- 
tioned, yet  are  actually  true,  as  thousands  can  testify,  if  need 
be,  on  solemn  oath.  Women,  with  deep  shame  be  it  said,  are 
not  one  whit  behind  the  other  sex.  The  whole  springs  from  the 
civilized  corruption  of  qualities  in  themselves  pure  and  good. 
And  society  is  to  blame  for  them. 

The  best  picture  of  Satan  ever  drawn,  describes  him  as  a  pol 
ished  gentleman,  of  the  Pantarchal  type  —  exactly  !  —  the  per 
fection  of  intellectual  power  and  aesthetic  culture,  art,  refine- 


woman;  love,  and  marriage.  61 

tnent,  taste,  and  all  that  marks  the  outside  of  the  perfected  civ- 
ilizee,  but  wholly  destitute  of  moral  goodness  or  religious 
devotion.  And  from  writers  of  that  mould  has  much  of  modern 
social-science-literature,  mainly  come,  —  thinkers,  some  of  them, 
of  rare  ability,  but  who  being  all  head,  are  as  destitute  of  heart 
as  a  school  of  fish  are  of  black-boards  and  writing-books ! 

These  vermicular  philosophers,  in  their  haste  and  zeal  to 
upset  society,  and  rebuild  it  on  new  plans,  are  incited  thereto 
mainly  by  their  own  diseased  tastes,  and  resultant  discontent, 
and  not  by  genuinely  philanthropic  motives  ;  because  their  cali- 
bre is  too  small  for  universal,  or  even  general,  comprehension 
of  the  real  wants  and  rights  of  man.  They  either  forget,  or 
purposely  ignore,  the  fact  that  there  are  natural  as  well  as 
human  laws  underlyiug  society  ;  and  that  its  development  pro- 
ceeds from  the  operation  of  principles  too  deep  for  them  alto- 
gether. They  are  blind  to  the  results  of  civilization  ;  that  it 
is  not  dependent  upon  •  mere  intellectualism ;  for  unless  its 
growth  be  religious  and  moral  as  well,  its  fruits  are  poisonous 
and  disastrous  to  mankind.  In  proof  of  which,  if  proof  be 
needed,  see  France  ;  ay,  our  own  land  ! 

The  social  fabric  is  bulky  and  involute.  It  is  builded  slowly ; 
and  no  one  beam  in  the  structure  can  be  rudely  displaced, — 
marriage,  for  instance,  —  or  reversed,  by  ballotizing  every- 
body, without  weakening  the  entire  edifice,  and  endangering  all 
its  occupants  ;  for  society  is  like  a  sea,  with  ebbs  and  flows, 
action  and  reaction,  and  whatever  disturbs  one  part  is  sure  to 
be  disastrously  felt  by  another.  The  fact  is,  society  in  its  rise 
from  primitive  savagery  has  eArer  moved  slowly,  but  always 
toward  the  higher  and  better,  and  despite  occasional  stoppages 
and  bloody  impedimenta  of  war,  and  other  cataclysmal  ruin,  it 
never,  in  the  long  run,  fails  to  surge  and  bend  and  turn  and 
trend  in  the  right  direction,  —  a  direction,  too,  never  decided  by 
human  choice,  but  under  an  impulsion,  which  itself  moulds  all 
human  thought,  choice,  and  desire,  and  develops,  by  mystical 
means,  the  instruments  of  all  human  advancement,  and  in  a 
thousand  directions  simultaneously.  A  natural  law  which 
never  fails,  as  it  operates,  and  moves  the  whole  grand  machine 


62  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

along  its  God-appointed  track,  to  grind  to  powder  everything 
opposed  to  its  healthful  march  and  growth,  Joe  Smiths,  Ann 
Lees,  Mahomets  and  "Pantarchs"  included;  and  this  is  why 
partial  reforms  and  reformers,  political  cliques  and  parties, 
church  systems,  and  all  specialties  have  ever  and  always  failed, 
and,  save  as  they  added  a  new  element  to  the  future,  have  come 
to  naught,  from  the  days  of  the  Greek,  Eg}'ptian,  Parthian  and 
Scythian  commonwealths  down  to  and  including  the  Darke 
Count}r,  Ohio,  and  Mountain  Cove  Villanism,  Spiritual  Aga- 
pemones,  Brigham  Young-dom  and  Berlin  Heights. 

The  social  machine  naturally  despises  all  tits,  starts,  periodi- 
cal spasms,  and  personal  governorship.  It  is  never  radical,  but 
always  conservative.  Nature  abhors  a  vacuum,  and  so  does 
society  despise  radical  innovations  of  every  hue  and  shape,  no 
matter  how  finely  tricked  off  with  a  bright  panoply  of  glittering 
words,  theories,  and  hypotheses  ;  it  instinctively  smells  paste 
where  apparent  diamonds  shine,  and  while  listening  to  fools 
takes  good  care  not  to  wholly  follow  their  advice. 

Society  knows  that  neither  radicals  nor  social  amazons  are 
safe  to  tie  to  ;  that  they  are  never  healthy,  and  that  it  is  a  good 
thing  to  give  them  both  the  go-by.  The  author  speaks  from 
bitter  experience  among  both  classes,  and  his  verdict  is,  he 
never  found  either  a  virtuous,  sincere,  truthful  or  honest  radi- 
cal in  all  his  twenty-seven  years'  knowledge  of  them,  for  their 
paths  are  very  sinuous  and  their  walk  is  "  slantindicular." 
They  are  born  malcontents,  opposed  to  everything  and  every- 
body, diseased  inside  and  out,  and  above  all  affectionally,  for 
they  are  passion-driven  drivellers,  unworthy  of  notice,  and  all 
their  teachings  are  pernicious. 

When  leaders  set  bad  examples,  erratic  or  erotic,  what  else 
can  be  looked  for  than  that  those  who  swear  by  the  same  shib- 
boleth will  exhibit  precisely  the  same  phenomena?  But  it  is 
remarkable  that  when  those  very  leaders  come  to  see  their 
error  and  take  the  back  track,  they  are  seldom  if  ever  followed 
by  even  a  corporal's  guard  !  Facile  descensus  averni,  —  but 
hard  to  climb  back  into  heaven  ! 

Thus  it  happens  that  all  honest  men  and  women,  who  by  sad 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  63 

« 

experience  have  come  to  find  out  that  they  were  deluded, 
and  when  by  suffering  and  the  providence  of  God  they  have 
been  brought  back  face  to  face  with  truth  again,  have  always 
been  berated,  slandered,  stigmatized,  and  hounded  down 
almost  to  the  bitter  death,  by  those  who  were  once  their 
stanch  upholders.  For  instance,  take  Spiritualism,  Sweden- 
borgianism,  Universalism,  and  wherever  a  man  or  woman  has 
left  their  ranks,  he  or  she  has  invariably  been  blackened  in  the 
most  "  gorgeous  style,"  and  found  to  have  always  been  villains, 
rogues,  and  eveiything  else  bad  and  woful ;  all  of  which  comes 
of  course  with  sweet  grace  from  lips  eternally  prating  peace, 
charity,  and  good-will,  and  prove  their  own  truth  by  driving 
men  to  the  wall,  women  to  prostitution,  and  innocent  children 
to  beggary !  Have  they  really  done  this  ?  Yes !  The  proof 
is  within  sound  of  the  writer's  voice  as  he  pens  these  lines ; 
and  yet  at  this  moment  many  of  these  self-same  people  are 
blaspheming  God  by  mock  praises  and  pyrotechnic  prayers ; 
succeed  by  what  Mrs.  Wood  called  the  diuretic  (meaning  die- 
tetic) philosophy,  right  afterwards,  —  all  of  which  develops 
another  curious  streak  of  human  nature,  and  proves  the  major 
proposition  herein,  that  out  of  extremes  and  radicalisms 
comes  nothing  good  or  sound,  elevating,  humanizing,  or  relig- 
ious, but  only  unholiness,  vituperation,  malice,  slander,,  lust, 
hatred,  revenge,  insanity,  and  unrest,  to  escape  all  of  which  the 
best  way  is  to  let  them  severely  alone.  Steer  clear  of  radical- 
ism, but  emphatically  insist  that  your  children  shall,  because 
there's  no  real,  but  at  best  merely  apparent  good  in  it,  what- 
ever shape  it  takes,  or  stjde  it  goes  by ;  for,  stripped  of  its 
trappings,  it  is  only  another  name  for  irreligion,  religio-scientc- 
philosophico  prostitutions,  of  talent,  soul,  body,  brains,  and 
morals ;  and  when  laid  bare  by  the  scalpel  of  sound  logic,  it  is 
found  to  be  full  of  cruelties,  sophisms,  and  irrationalities  of 
every  kind  and  degree,  distasteful  to  healthy  minds,  but 
delicious  to  the  foul. 

The  insane  maunderings  of  modern  iconoclasts  ;  the  mum- 
blings of  toothless  old  crones  of  vinegar  aspect,  who  bawl  and 
howl  against  everything  good  and  sensible  ;  the  vapid  chatter 


64  WOMAN,   LOVE j   AND   MARRIAGE. 

% 

ings  of  pretty  poll-parrot  women's  rightites,  who  mount  the  ros- 
trum to  show  off  their  fine  points  and  briug  fools  to  their  feet ; 
and  the  hoarse  gruntings  of  reformatory  lunatics  in  broadcloth, 
who  ventilate  bad  English  and  worse  morals  from  the  same 
platform,  are  on  a  par  with  madness ;  are  as  little  worthy  of 
an  honest  man's  or  virtuous  woman's  respect  as  are  the  maud- 
lin dribblings  from  the  brain  of  his  salacious,  pantarchical, 
universological  and  sociological  High  Nastiness,  Andrusius  the 
First. 

The  whole  varied  and  complex  tribe  of  would-be-State 
builders,  gravely  tell  us  that  not  only  is  the  Christian  religion 
powerless,  effete,  dead  in  effect,  but  that  society  is  rapidly 
going  to  decay ;  just  as  if  we  believe  such  stuff,  or  that  the 
conserving  hand  of  God  was  not  visibly  at  work  everywhere, 
causing  it  to  correct  its  own  faults,  often  by  severe  measures,- 
as  war,  revolution,  and  physical  degeneracy ;  through  the 
divine  power  of  which  agencies,  fearful  and  terrible  though  they 
be,  violated  law,  moral,  mental,  social,  physical,  all  find  their 
avengement,  and  gradually  but  surely  restore  the  great  world's 
health  again. 

This  vehement  denunciation  is  not  against  individuals,  save 
only  as  they  represent  principles  ;  and  before  this  task  is  done 
the  terrible  cause  will  be  seen,  but  not  felt,  as  the  writer's 
heart  has  felt  it !  God  can  only  realize  that  bitterness  !  —  why 
this  terrible  earnestness  is  levelled  against  systems  foul  and 
Satanic,  yet  garbed  in  scientific  cloaks. 

These  self-appointed  world-regenerators,  but  really  exponents 
of  disruptive  notions,  talk  and  write  just  as  if  there  were  no 
God  in  existence,  no  retributive  forces  in  being,  no  Providence 
over,  under  and  around  the  world ;  and  as  if  it  was  capable  of 
making  mistakes,  and  the  whole  grand  system  of  the  universe  a 
definitive  and  radical  failure,  total,  overwhelming,  and  complete. 
They  forget  that  we  are  in  the  middle  of  Time,  with  one  eternity 
behind  us,  and  another  right  ahead,  and  whole  clouds  of  eter- 
nities dimly  looming  like  vague,  gray  shadows  in  the  immeasur- 
able Beyond !  No !  There's  no  such  thing  as  mistake  or 
failure  in  or  about  or  to  or  from  the  overruling  soul  of  Being ! 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  65 

the  infinite  Lord  of  a  myriad  heavens,  and  the  other  myriads 
of  soul-bearing  galaxies  such  as  the  eye  sweeps  in  the  vast  blue 
above  our  heads,  and  beneath  our  feet  forever  and  forever ;  and 
he  who  affirms  such  a  possibility  even,  is  either  demented  or  a 
fool. 

But,  to  argue  a  little  further,  suppose  that  society  really  is 
unsound  in  many  respects,  and  presents  the  appearance  of  de- 
ca}-,  is  it  so  certain  that  these  symptoms  are  the  signs  of  dis- 
solution? Is  it  not  far  more  reasonable  to  conclude  that  these 
very  sigus  are,  in  the  bodies  politic  and  social,  just  like  others 
in  the  human  frame,  when  scrofula  so  taints  its  every  fibre  that 
the  system  is  deeply  engaged  in  the  depurative  process,  and 
with  all  its>  energies  is  rapidly  and  surely  collecting  all  the  bad 
substance  into  a  social  ulcer  or  two,  —  the  isms,  ologies,  new 
lights,  and  their  ists,  —  which  only  need  deep  pricking  to  let 
the  pus  escape  and  leave  the  system  cleaner,  clearer,  purer  than 
before ! 

It  seemed  to  the  writer  that  the  time  had  come  wherein  the 
ultraists  and  ites,  the  ologists  and  ists,  and  the  vampire  tribes, 
alike  in  the  higher  ranks  of  social  life,  as  in  the  intellectual 
cesspools  of  so-called  godly  and  philosophic  Boston,  should  no 
longer  have  it  all  their  own  way.  Boston,  the  Puritanic,  where 
girls  imprisoned  for  the  fearful  crime  of  poverty  have  been  sub- 
jected to  abuses  by  paid  officials,  as  can  be  clearly  proved  in 
open  court,  too  dreadful  to  be  readily  believed  of  savages, 
much  less  Christians.  The  testimony  is  at  hand,  and  at  last 
"  there's  a  chiel  among  'em  ta'in  notes —  and,  faith,  he'll  prent 
'em  !  "  That  city,  for  its  size,  has  been  a  young  Sodom,  clearly, 
and  most  corrupt  of  any  other  under  heaven  ;  for  although  there 
is  no  plate  within  the  domain  of  civilization  where  human  life 
is  better,  if  so  well  protected ;  no  spot  where  actual,  open 
crime  is  so  quickly  run  to  earth,  or  a  poor  man  has  fairer  play, 
or  outcast  a  better  chance  to  return  from  her  wanderings  when 
good  men  are  in  office,  —  yet  there  is  no  spot  where  bigotry  and 
prejudice  rule  with  so  strong  a  hand  ;  or  where  the  laws  of  God 
and  man,  so  far  as  it  regards  the  great  social  vices,  are  set  so 
wholly  at  defiance ;    because  the  facilities  for  their  infraction 


66  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

are  greater  than  in  any  other  place  out  of  London.  What  is  the 
cause  of  it?  Are  Boston  people  worse  that  others  in  that  re- 
spect ?  The  reply  is  an  emphatic  No  !  But  it  results  in  a  great 
degree  from  the  natural  protest  against  puritanic  repression ; 
from  the  strict  class  lines  of  its  people,  and  from  their  wretched 
restaurant-life,  —  for  at  least  eight-tenths  of  her  people  seldom 
know  what  a  good  square  homeside  meal  is,  but  they  gobble 
their  food  in  eating-houses  as  cattle  do  their  hay  at  fodder- 
time  ;  the  consequence  of  which  is  that  all  Boston  is  dyspeptic ; 
and  whoever  is  dyspeptic  does  not  care  a  straw  about  Moses 
and  his  seventh  commandment,  which  they  glory  then  in 
breaking ;  but  they  delight  in  the  last  one,  with  the  "  not " 
left  out.  Boston  is  peopled  with  two  general  classes,  old  and 
not  old  ;  both  of  which  have  added  an  additional  item  to  the 
decalogue,  and  strictly  obey  each  its  own.  That  of  the  not 
old  is,  "Proceed  during  the  period  of  juvenility,  for  when 
senile  comes  it  will  bring  a  chronic  inability  along  with  it." 
That  of  the  other  is  shorter,  and  reads,  "  Get  all  you  can, 
and  keep  all  you  get." 

The  man  or  woman  whose  food  is  constantly  manipulated  by 
hirelings,  and  partaken  of  with  strangers,  cannot  be  healthy  in 
any  way  ;  for  the  food  lacks  the  magnetism  of  home,  love,  and 
domesticity.  Restaurants  make  lechers  of  us  all !  and  that  will 
be  a  happy  day  when  the  last  one  burns  up,  and  the  last  meal 
is  eaten  at  their  tables  by  married  men  and  women,  or  single 
ones  either. 

Convinced  of  the  inutility  of  attempting  to  force  society  into 
new  forms,  modes,  channels ;  and  that  a  natural  growth  will 
bring  things  right  eventually ;  and  that  the  mere  social  phase- 
isms  thereof  are  but  temporary  existences,  destined,  like  pustules 
on  the  human  face,  to  pass  away  when  the  digestive  apparatus 
is  all  right,  the  author  believes  that,  if  the  social  and  political 
doctors  will  but  let  society  alone,  its  disorders  will  be  healed 
and  permanently  cured  for  good  by  the  grand  Vis  Medicatrix 
Naturce;  leaving  perhaps  a  scar  or  two,  but  the  radical  poison 
will  have  been  extirpated  thoroughly,  because  God  and  Nature, 


WOMANy   LOVE,    AXD   MARRIAGE.  67 

though  sometimes  apparently  slow  in  movement,  are  neverthe- 
less alwa\*s  perfect  in  their  grand  and  holy  work. 

The  world,  in  its  social,  devotional,  emotional,  affectional, 
and  every  other  department,  even  when  deathly  sick,  sensibly 
and  ever  refuses  to  be  experimented  upon  on  a  large  scale  or 
for  a  long  time,  with  or  by  any  variety  of  patent  nostrums  or 
new-fangled  notions  and  medicaments.  Each  man  in  the  long 
run  will  be  compelled  to  clean  out  his  own  Augean  stables, 
even  if  it  takes  twice  as  long  as  it  did  the  fabled  hero  of  an- 
tiquity. But  he  alone  —  each  for  him  or  herself — must  do  it ; 
and  then,  and  not  till  then,  will  the  world  get  better  and  be 
permanently  cured  ;  and  that's  the  long  and  short  of  it ! 

Woman  !  Let's  take  a  glance  at  a  side  of  her  always  seen, 
but  seldom  noticed,  and  scarce  ever  understood.  There  is  in 
all  women  a  very  great  deal  more  than  most  people  dream  of, 
and  here  is  one  strange  thing :  there  are  moments  in  her  life, 
fitful,  flashful,  evanescent  as  a  passing  dream,  wherein  Some- 
thing awfully  grand,  deeply  mysterious,  fuller,  higher,  sublimer 
than  what  most  of  us  call  love,  beams  forth,  like  a  sunburst 
through  storm-rifted  cloud-banks,  from  her  eyes  and  features,  — 
a  mystic  gleam,  revealing  some  new  thing  of  the  soul,  —  an 
index  to  an  enormous  force  and  power,  of  her,  within  her, 
whoever  she  be,  —  one  class,  vampires,  excepted,  —  and  telling 
of  a  boundless  ocean  of  angelism  upborne  on  the  floors  of  her 
soul !  —  a  mystery  too  vast  for  the  intellect  to  wholly  unravel 
or  fairly  grasp.  For  twenty  odd  years,  in  all  lands,  the  writer 
has  observed  this  wondrous  thing.  He  has  seen  it  in  the 
spotless  virgin  in  cold  New  Eugland,  and  on  the  burning  sands 
of  Araby  the  blest.  He  has  seen  this  Godxess  flash  out  from 
the  dark  orbs  of  an  octoroon,  —  the  passionate,  angular  daughter 
of  the  South ;  and  from  the  cold,  gray-blue  eye  of  an  icy  blonde 
beauty  of  Maine ;  from  the  beaming  face  of  the  beautiful- 
featured  temptress  and  inan-slayer, —  Laura  Fair,  —  may  God 
forgive,  in  pity,  for  her  great  crime,  and  her  fearful  provocation 
thereto !  It  has  been  seen  radiating  from  the  black  eyes  of  a 
negress.     It  flashes   from  the  face  of  the  nun  in  prayer,  and 


68  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

from  the  dying  mother's  features ;  but  oftenest  is  it  seen  for  an 
instant,  and  then  it  is  off  and  awajr  again,  in  the  face  of  her 
in  whose  bosom  an  immortal  soul  is  preparing  to  be  born. 
What  is  this  strange  something  peculiar  to  women,  occasionally 
seen  in  men,  but  only  in  those  whose  woman-side  is  the  strongest, 
■ — this  mystic  thing  which  all  have  seen,  yet  no  one  ever  named? 
Those  in  whom  it  is  oftenest  visible  are  ever  the  heartful, 
angular,  misunderstood,  lonely,  soulful,  idolatrous,  uneven, 
moodful,  capricious,  wayward  ones  of  the  world.  It  most  fre- 
quently shows  itself  when  love  has  lit  up  the  eye,  and  then 
the  lowliest  woman  bears  the  stamp  of  queenliness,  and  while 
the  spell  lasts  is  possessed  of  a  nameless  grace,  and  glides  along 
with  the  soul-subduing  witchery  of  a  magnetic  summer  cloud. 
Then  she  floats  in  an  atmosphere  that  is  something  more,  yet 
something  less,  then  voluptuousness,  for  this  wonderful  and 
strange  magic  never  either  inspires  or  seeks  passion  ;  for  it  is 
as  wide  apart  from  that  as  heaven  is  from  earth,  or  manhood 
from  a  libertine's  soul ;  and  yet  this  strange  something  oftenest 
appears  when  passion  is  at  high  tide.  When  that  flashful 
glimpse  is  on  her,  a  woman  —  be  she  who  or  what  circumstances 
have  made  her,  rich  or  poor,  beautiful  or  homely,  old  or  young, 
black  or  fair  —  is  simply  celestial  and  divine  ;  for  immortality, 
beyond  the  wildest  dream  of  rapper  or  tahleist,  gleams  forth 
unmistakably ;  and  she  who  has  it,  or  he  who  beholds  it,  can 
no  more  doubt  the  hereafter  of  the  seeing  soul,  or  the  seen, 
than  that  one  and  one  make  two,  according  to  human  arithmetic. 
He  who  beholds  her  then,  and  drinks  in  the  subtile  meaning 
along  with  his  seeing,  cannot  help  realizing,  perhaps  for  the 
first  time,  that  the  object  called  woman  is  a  great  deal  more 
than  mere  physical  gender  implies.  Women  of  the  soulless 
grade  have  already  been  alluded  to,  and  will  be  again  further 
on ;  but  this  divine  thing,  this  celestial  femininity  in  part  or 
wholly,  is  very  seldom  seen,  found,  or  felt  in  them,  save  by 
reflection  shortly  after  they  have  sapped  some  one  else  of  life 
and  soul,  and  then  it  flashes  out  for  a  second  only.  It  shot 
forth  for  just  an  instant  from  the  eyes  of  La  Blondette,  as  she 
sat  there  by  the  bedside  whither  she  had  been  drawn  to  see 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  69 

him  die  —  her  victim  ;  for  a  moment  the  celestial  nature  gleamed 
through  the  vampire  eyes,  brought  to  the  surface  by  an  instant 
of  pity,  —  for  the  man  lay  at  the  point  of  death  ;  but  God  said, 
"  Die  not  yet ! "  and  so  balked  her  of  her  prey ;  whereat  the 
dvine  thing  went  back  to  heaven,  and  the  leech  again  swam 
in  her  own  dark,  turbid  pool. 

Speaking  of  vampirism,  —  is  it  not  rather  singular  that  soul- 
leeches  are  never,  or  exceedingly  seldom,  found,  except  among 
the  radical  types  and  grades  of  society  ?  The  writer  has  met 
scores  of  them,  but  never  anywhere  else  save  among  the  "  Re- 
formers," "  Women's  Righters,"  "  Pantarchians,"  and  among  a 
certain  class  of  so-called,  but  falsely  called,  "  Spiritualists, "  — 
falsety  so-called  on  the  ground  that  being  born  in  a  stable  fails 
to  make  a  man  a  horse,  and  so-called,  simply  because,  happening 
to  believe  in  certain  strange  things,  they  call  themselves  spirit- 
ual, when  analysis  demonstrates  them  to  be  wholly  material,  sen 
sual,  sensuous,  non-spiritual,  and  altogether  of  the  earth,earthy. 

There  are  thousands  of  such  abnormal  beings  in  existence, 
most  of  them  in  America,  and  very  nearly  all  in  the  radical 
ranks,  persons  of  either  sex  and  no  sex,  who  sap,  vitiate,  and 
drain  out  the  life  and  vital  nerve-energy  of  others  ;  and  con- 
tact with  whom  leads  many  a  one  to  imagine  they  love  and  are 
loved  in  return,  when  in  sober  fact  all  such  are  the  pitiable  vic- 
tims of  a  very  devil-spell,  and  stand,  body,  health,  spirit, 
morals,  and  soul,  upon  the  toppling  verge  of  a  precipice,  to  fall 
into  which  is  ruin  greater  than  aught  which  can  otherwise  befall 
a  rational  human  being.  May  the  God  of  Heaven  succor  and 
save  all  such,  —  and  there  are  thousands  of  them,  both  within 
and  without  the  pale  of  marriage,  so-called. 

The  terms  basilisk,  vampire,  evil  eye  (mal  occhio),  jettatura 
and  ghoul,  of  Eastern  story,  are  convertible  terms,  and  were 
intended  to  denote  what  is  now  being  herein  held  up  before  the 
world,  in  the  hope  of  putting  people  on  their  guard  against  the 
most  dreadful  and  terrible  counterfeit  of  love  known  on  earth ; 
and  which  is  as  far  worse  than  its  exfreme  opposite  as  is  a 
deliberate  murder  worse  than  a  school-boy's  quarrel.  There  is 
no  moment  in  the  entire  life  of  such  a  person,  when  the  heart 


70  WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

pulses  'with  generous  feeling,  or  the  eye  is  lit  up  with  love. 
Instead  of  that  there  is  a  short,  sharp,  quick,  piercing  glance, 
which  once  seen  can  never  be  forgotten,  because  it  fangs  the 
very  soul  of  its  victim,  and  leaves  a  sting  which  only  time  and 
a  genuine  love,  in  fair,  open,  manly  marriage,  can  ever  heal. 
But  we  have  not  yet  done  with  this  fearful  thing,  which,  by  the 
way,  will  never  wholly  die  out  while  the  outreisms  of  modern 
society,  the  entire  family  of  radicalisms  and  ologies,  maintain 
a  footing  in  the  world. 

The  true  woman  is  ever  one  of  feeling ;  ghouls  have  none, 
save  for  themselves,  and  only  weep  and  lament  when  they  no 
longer  have  hearts  to  feed  on  and  destroy.  But  a  genuine 
■woman,  on  the  contrary,  is  never  so  blessed  and  happy  as  when 
ministering  to  the  joy  and  good  of  another.  And  although 
such  an  one  may  plod  along  unappreciated,  yet  there  are 
moments  when  she  feels  her  divinity,  her  royalty  of  soul,  and  it 
flashes  out  upon  the  gaze  of  others  when  neither  expects  and 
one  knows  not,  and  the  observer  is  startled  and  astounded  by 
the  sublime  revelation. 

"When  a  true  woman's  soul  is  up,  when  it  gazes  out  from  its 
fleshly  prison-house,  when  its  divine  fire  is  shot  forth  from  her 
luminous,  loving  orbs,  disarming  passion,  and  waking  a  train 
of  better  and  lofty  thought,  feeling,  and  emotion,  then,  ah,  then, 
there  is  something  felt  and  seen  by  the  observer  which  is 
instinctively  recognized  and  acknowledged  to  be  very  close  akin 
to  absolute  power  and  divinity  ;  for  it  is  more  than  magnetism, 
more  than  beauty  ;  for  beauty  takes  the  senses  captive,  but  this 
illumination  unhinges  the  senses  and  goes  through  their  gate- 
ways directly  to  the  soul  of  the  observer,  and  there  tells  his 
inner  spirit  that  this  is  true  womanhood  !  —  an  abused  word,  but 
whose  real  meaning  is  grandeur,  dignity,  friendship,  affection, 
tenderness,  trust,  faith,  and  love ;  differing,  indeed,  from  either, 
but  embracing  the  essence  of  them  all  combined.  The  woman 
loves,  the  vampire  preys,  and  the  only  common  property  of  them 
both  is,  not  sex,  but  its  mere  semblance,  its  external  symbol- 
ism ;  because  no  ghoul  can  be,  in  reality,  a  woman. 

The  wide-spread,  but  almost  wholly-unsuspected,  prevalence 


JTO.VAX,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  71 

of  vampirism  accounts  for  the  ruin  and  havoc,  and  domestic 
heavens  transformed  into  social  hells,  which  invariably  follow- 
in  the  wake  of  most  professional  reformers,  particularly  of  the 
mediumistic  class,  very  few  of  whom  are  healthful  in  any  sense 
whatever,  and  the  vast  mass  of  whom  are  not  merely  one-sided, 
crooked,  angular,  but  morbid  and  badly  demoralized  affection- 
ally.  Scores  upon  scores  of  thousands  of  families  have  been 
broken,  husbands  lured  to  infamy  and  home-desertion,  wives 
to  utter  ruin  and  abandonment,  by  the  flood  and  raff  of  re- 
formers with  a  mission,  who  in  these  days  scour  every  nook  and 
corner  of  the  land.  "What  else  can  be  looked  for  from  a  horde 
of  fanatics  who  have  no  God  to  lean  upon,  draw  inspiration 
from,  or  look  up  to?  —  people  who  have  no  conscience  to 
accuse,  no  sense  of  honor  to  uphold,  no  real  heart  to  love  ;  who 
live  on  excitements  and  fatten  on  the  nervous,  magnetic,  and 
affectional  lives  of  all  who  enter  their  pestilent  presence,  or 
breathe  the  devil-essence,  the  exuviae  of  the  nether  pit,  —  if 
there  be  one  —  evolved  from  their  entire  personalities,  physi- 
cal, social,  mental  —  people  who  can  love  only  as  jackals  and 
hyenas  love  their  prey. 

A  true  woman,  before  she  is  contaminated  and  demoralized 
by  current  radicalism,  is  capable  of,  and  to  be  happy,  must 
love ;  but  such  love !  Not  your  rose-colored,  mawkish,  Miss 
Nancified,  kid-gloved,  fair-weather  affection,  so  commonly  met 
with  everywhere  except  on  the  stage  or  in  novels,  —  but  she  is 
equal  to  one  to  be  found  when  wanted,  and  which  sticks. 

Three  days  before  the  tragic  ending,  La  Blondette  wrote,  or 
quoted,  to  the  writer  hereof,  —  who  thanked  God  his  fate  was 
not  sealed  by  marriage  :  — 

*'  Then,  come  the  foul  weather,  come  sleet  or  come  snow, 
We  will  stand  by  each  other,  —  however  it  blow !  " 

And.  reader,  would  you  believe  it? — the  man  who  wrote  this 
book  was  fool  enough  to  swallow  that  as  Cupid's  gospel,  with- 
out the  slightest  valid  reason  therefor.  Blind  !  did  you  say  ? 
Yes,  —  as  a  bat ;  but  then  that  very  blindness  resulted  in  eye 


72  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND    MARRIAGE. 

opening ;  and  the  book  in  your  hands  !     That's  how  things  are 
balanced,  and  good  comes  of  evil. 

How  blind  we  are  to  the  providences  bending  over  us  !  What 
grand  results  often  spring  from  what  looked  like  merest  acci- 
dent !  The  fates  or  fortunes,  not  only  of  individuals,  but 
States  and  empires,  often  hinge  and  turn  upon  the  merest 
trifles  in  appearance.  It  may  prove,  and  often  does,  that  a 
love-grief  or  sorrow  may  turn  out  to  be  the  changing  tide  in  a 
new  career.  Never  doubt  till  the  end  comes ;  for  misery  and 
grief  are  often  sent  to  test  what  sort  of  material  underlies  our 
character.  No  woman  or  man  is  fairly  dead  till  quite  ready  to 
be  buried  ;  and  when  a  love  grief  takes  hold  of  a  person  to  the 
extent  of  suggesting  despair  or  suicide,  the  chances  are  just 
about  three  hundred  millions  to  one,  that  it  is  a  vampire  spell, 
easily  thrown  off  by  a  resolute  will,  and  wholly  gotten  rid  of 
inside  of  forty  days  from  date  ! 

Extremisms,  absurdities,  and  radicalisms  all  belong  to  one 
catalogue,  and  all  alike  lay  violent  hands  upon  the  soul's  integ- 
rity to  itself  and  its  divine  Master.  Rum-intoxicants  destroy 
the  soul  through  bodily  channels,  and  over  appetital  bridges ; 
and  so  does  vampirism,  and  the  entire  ungodly  host  which 
marshal  themselves  under  the  banner  of  social  reform ;  not 
always,  but  as  a  general  thing.  All  but  straight  roads  of  life 
and  philosophy  are  unsafe  paths  to  follow  ;  and  all  loves  but  the 
home  loves  are  dangerous  to  mankind ;  and  though  outreisms 
are  very  pretty  to  look  at  on  paper,  or  to  be  listened  to  from 
rostra,  yet  they  are  explosive  bombs,  charged  with  ingredients 
fresh  from  the  pit,  —  if  pit  there  be,  and  things  look  as  if 
there  were.  The  only  perfect  insurance  against  disaster  con- 
sists in  keeping  clear  of  their  respective  lines  of  operation. 

It  has  hereinbefore  been  repeatedly  said  that  all  true  women 
are  capable  of  loving  deeply,  enduringly,  and  well ;  but,  on  the 
other  side,  it  is  equally  notorious  and  true,  that  men  very  rarely, 
in  these  rapid  days,  possess  the  power  to  evoke,  kindle,  or  call 
out,  the  true,  deep  love  that  dwells  in  every  normal  woman's 
heart,  where  it  slumbers  uneasily,  and  longs  to  be  awakened. 
Instead  of   so  arousing  it,  the  majority  of  men  are  finished 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE.  73 

adepts  in  the  art  of,  and  almost  invariably  succeed  splendidly 
in,  so  thoroughly  chloroforming  it,  that  the  poor,  dear  love  goes 
to  sleep  for  good  and  all,  never  to  be  awakened  this  side  the 
grave  ;  and  then  they  wonder  what's  the  reason  why,  and  utterly 
fail  to  see  that  the  fault  is  in  themselves,  and  do  not  even 
dream  of  the  wonderful  meaning  of  the  word  "Woman,  nor  that 
to  call  her  out  and  make  her  all  she  is  capable  of  becoming, 
three  things  are  necessary,  Love,  Wifehood,  in  the  true,  full 
sense,  embracing  trust,  confidence,  respect,  appreciation ;  and, 
to  crown  the  series,  Motherhood,  resulting  from  the  combina- 
tion of  them  all. 

Picture  such  a  woman  standing  before  you  in  all  the  radiant 
majesty  of  her  nature ;  but  measure  not  her  boundless,  limit- 
less, unfathomable  ocean  of  genuine  feeling,  and  giving  ability 
and  power,  by  the  standai'd,  or  in  the  petty  heart-measures  of 
peach-cheeked,  carnationed  sentimentalisms  now  in  vogue  ;  for 
she  and  her  heart  require  larger,  fuller  methods  for  the  determi- 
nation of  real  values.  A  woman's  soul  is  a  lake  of  fervent 
water,  heated  by  the  breath  of  the  Infinite,  ready  to  flow  forth, 
and  wash  white  and  pure  the  blackest,  foulest,  spirit  of  man,  if 
he  will  but  permit  the  holy  baptism.  On  the  other  hand,  the  lurid 
flames  which  ceaselessly  burn  and  fret  within  the  soul  of  the 
loveless,  unloving,  yet  love-hungry  human-  leech,  is  a  consuming 
death,  capable  and  efficient  to  ruin  the  best  and  purest  man  on 
earth,  between  the  birth  and  fulling  of  a  single  moon,  as  it 
hangs  out,  first  a  line,  then  a  shield  of  silver,  in  the  sky. 

Some  wives  and  some  husbands  are  nervous  leeches  to  each 
other  !  Such  marriages  are  very  prolific  of  consumptions,  heart- 
disease,  vice,  infidelity,  drunkenness,  ether-using,  opium-eating, 
jails,  assaults,  elopements,  divorces,  slander,  early  death,  and 
sometimes  state-prisons,  murder  and  the  gallows.  The  question 
arises  here,  however,  When  such  unions  exist,  such  results  not 
having  been  foreseen,  is  there  any  method  of  averting  any  item, 
or  all,  the  evils  in  the  catalogue?  Reply,  Most  assuredly!  It 
has  already  been  given,  and  will  be  repeated  in  another  chap- 
ter, if  that  is  not  clear  enough. 


74  WOMAN,    LOVE,  AND  MARRIAGE. 

CHAPTER  V. 

ATTRACTION  :      CAUSES,   EFFECTS,   CONSEQUENCES. 

There  is  in  certain  persons  of  peculiar  organization,  a  kind 
of  magnetic  attraction,  strange,  weird,  almost  undefinable,  yet 
though  it  is  a  broad,  deep  river,  its  original  spring  or  source  is  a 
very  tiny  point.  This  singular  attraction,  exerted  by  persons 
of  both  sexes  alike,  but  more  frequently  by  women  of  particu- 
lar mould  and  make-up,  has  neither  love,  friendship,  nor  passion 
as  a  basis  or  fulcrum  for  the  exhibition  of  its  energy  or  power, 
yet  is  frequently  attributed  to  either  and  all,  while  in  reality  it 
is  far  different  from,  yet  immensely  stronger  than,  any  one  of 
them,  or  than  the  entire  combination  of  the  three,  as  the  three 
generally  exist. 

It  seems  a  marvel  that  a  discoveiy  so  vast  as  the  above  lines 
imply,  —  and  those  which  follow  will  demonstrate,  —  should 
not  have  been  made  long  ago  by  some  of  the  millions  of  people 
who  have  written,  said,  or  sung,  the  interminable,  yet  ever 
fresh,  story  of  love  and  its  wonderful  mysteries.  They  were 
not  thorough  analysts,  else  had  it  not  been  left  for  the  present 
writer  to  call  attention  to  a  very  remarkable  series  of  facts  con- 
nected with  the  subjects  under  discussion. 

This  power,  of  a  semi-magnetic  character,  to  which  attention 
is  here  called,  is  deeper,  higher,  broader,  and  far  more  mysteri- 
ous than  what  is  usually  known  as  love ;  for  love  invariably 
draws  its  object  toward  itself;  or,  at  least,  it  tries  to,  that  be- 
ing its  nature,  albeit  it  does  not  always  achieve  success.  But 
the  power  here  tried  to  be  defined  is  both  strange  and  peculiar, 
because  passionless,  yet  the  soul  of  passion,  by  which  is  meant 
soul-passion,  not  material  incandescence ;  for  while  it  attracts 
its  own  gender,  it  also  draws  persons  of  the  opposite  sex, 
intensely,  yet  at  the  self-same  moment  exerts  a  positive  repel- 
lant  energy,  and  keeps  the  attracted  one  from  approaching  too 
near,  save  to  worship  and  adore. 

All  truth  is  dogmatic  and  self-assertive,  no  matter  what  be 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND    MARRIAGE.  lb 

its  nature,  character,  or  form ;  and  the  truth  here  announced, 
although  for  the  next  century  it  may  defy  analysis,  and  all  man- 
kind may  proA'e  unequal  to  the  task  of  giving  an  adequate  or 
satisfactory  reason  why  ;  3'et  is  so  clear  cut,  is  so  much  a  part 
of  almost  every  one's  experience,  as  to  be  at  once  accepted  as 
being  real ;  for  there  are  but  few  persons  of  either  sex,  past  the 
jouissant  period  of  }Touth,  wherein  there's  never  a  time  for  close 
observation  or  solid  thought,  but  who  have  had  abundant  cause 
in  their  own  personal  experience,  to  corroborate  what  is  here 
said  upon  this  most  wonderful  and  deeply  mysterious  working 
of  the  human  .soul ;  and  to  recognize  the  existence  of,  if  unable 
to  give  a  name  to,  that  strange  mode  or  mood  of  the  soul  now 
under  discussion,  if  not  dissection.  The  power  alluded  to  is 
real  and  positive,  and  its  influence  is  felt  by  all  people,  and 
everywhere.  It  holds  them  spellbound  at  distances  propor- 
tional to  the  amount  of  soul  in  the  attracted  individual ;  just 
as  planets  are  in  the  solar  world.  Some  persons,  of  either  sex, 
in  whom  a  plus  of  soul  exists,  when  heart-reft  and  lonely,  as  all 
such  are  extremely  likely  to  be  from  the  very  great  difficulty  of 
finding  suitable  or  equal  mates,  or  anj^thing  like  just  apprecia- 
tion, very  often,  and  periodically,  have  sunbursts  of  vehement 
love ;  and  during  such  periods,  exert,  ever  unawares,  an 
attractive  fascination,  almost  awful  in  its  intensity,  upon  who- 
ever of  appreciative  grade  becomes  embalmed  within  their  then 
quite  magic  sphere.  But —  and  here  is  the  grand  and  broad  dis- 
tinction between  what  we  are  now  studying,  and  the  fearful 
vampire  spell  already  alluded  to,  and  to  be  further  explained  ; 
for  no  one  ever  suffers,  or  becomes  gross  or  wretched  under  the 
influence  of  the  former  ;  while  whoever  falls  beneath  the  latter 
invariably  inhales  the  spores  of  the  deeps,  and  becomes  demor- 
alized in  exact  ratio  with  the  amount  of  the  pestilent  magnet- 
ism they  have  imbibed. 

One  leads  to  self-restraint,  virtue,  goodness,  God,  and 
heaven ;  the  other  to  total  abandonment,  passione,  volupty, 
angularity,  hardness,  grossness,  moral  death,  and  stultifica 
tion. 

Reader,  a  question  or  two  :  Have  you  never  been  in  company 


76  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE. 

with  those  for  whom,  at  first,  you  had  no  especial  liking,  or 
regard,  yet  whom,  after  a  brief  acquaintance,  and  having 
caught  the  strange  unearthly  flash,  described  erewhile,  you 
were  compelled  to  —  love?  —  no,  not  that,  for  as  times  go 
the  thing  passing  by  that  holy  name  smacks  more  of  earth  than 
heaven !  —  but  to  whom  you  looked  longingly,  and  clung  to 
with  something  deeper,  broader,  fuller,  more  mystical,  and 
apparently  more  dangerous  than  love,  in  spite  of  yourself? 
Ay,  and  which  continued  to  move  and  grow  upon  you  whether 
you  would  or  not,  —  not  as  an  infatuation  of  the  leech  grade, 
but  as  a  deep  emotion,  almost  devotional,  because  clear,  clean, 
white,  pure,  unsullied ;  having  nothing  of  fiery  passion,  lurid 
ardor,  morbid,  and  charged  with  falsehood,  flanked  by  jealousy 
on  one  side,  and  gaunt  murder  on  the  other.  Have  you  not 
felt  this  better  something  sinking —  a  flood  of  wondrous  life  —  to 
the  very  floors  of  your  being,  and  kindling  theretofore  slumbering 
aspirations  to  reach  higher  and  go  farther?  making  you  con- 
scious of  strange  and  mighty  possibilities  of  achievement  on 
your  part,  never  even  vaguely  dreamed  of  before  ?  —  possibili- 
ties of  joy,  love,  devotion,  thought,  act,  faith,  and  trust,  there- 
tofore soundly  slumbering  deeply  in  the  far-off  crypts  and 
dormitories  of  your  soul?  Have  you  not  felt  all  this,  even 
when  strict  analysis  on  your  part  failed  to  enable  you  to 
discover  any  satisfactory  cause  for  the  feeling,  or  any  qualities, 
abstract  or  concrete,  in  the  individual  thus  inspiring  you, 
reasonably  capable  of  producing  such  effects?  Well,  this 
something  is  soul  touching  your  soul  without  the  intervention 
of  flesh,  contact,  sound,  or  magnetism.  It  is  wholly  Soul  ! 
The  inspiration  is  divine,  and  a  union  between  one  capable  of 
inspiring,  and  one  able  to  appreciate  and  return  it,  is  celestial, 
heavenly,  of  the  gods,  godly,  and  just  what  the  Maker  intended 
all  souls  should  feel  before,  during  the  continuance  on  earth 
of,  and  when  rejoined  above  in  a  still  more  holy  and  intimate 
marriage.  This  is  the  love  which  angels  feel  and  entertain, 
and  so  may  we  here  on  earth,  every  one  of  us,  if  we  but  fairly 
try  to  have  it  so.     But  this  sort  of  marriage  will  never  be 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AXD   MAIiRIAGE.  77 

realized  so  long  as  we  are  content  to  float  on  the  belly  of  the 
air,  our  heads  not  touching  heaven,  our  feet  away  from  earth! 

Men,  however,  have  first  to  learn  that  she  gives  little  who 
only  gives  her  form  ;  and  women  will  be  compelled  to  act  on 
the  principle  that  howsoever  beautiful  the  casket  may  be,  it 
sinks  to  insignificance  in  point  of  value  when  compared  with 
the  jewel  it  contains.  Of  course  this  knowledge  is  the  exact 
reverse  of  what  is  learned  to-day ;  but  when  it  obtains,  horror 
will  disappear,  and  gladness  take  its  place  in  every  household  ; 
because  the  one  only  and  true  principle  —  Pure  Love  —  will  be 
enshrined  in  every  human  heart. 

As  things  are  now,  man}"  a  bride  goes  to  the  altar  leaving 
her  heart  behind  her ;  and  many  a  bridal  couch  is  pressed  by 
the  lithe  form,  and  form  only,  of  her  who  has  just  spoken  the 
irrevocable  words,  but  whose  soul  is  far,  very  far  away,  and 
proposes  to  stay  ;  and  as  times  go  —  a  not  altogether  unwise 
determination,  yet  the  conditions  are  very  sad. 

Husbands  are  not  always  blind  or  callous ;  for  though  a 
wife  may  conceal  her  wretchedness  or  inner  dislike  of  her  con- 
dition for  a  while,  yet  even  the  grossest  man,  who  after  all 
values  mind  more  than  matter,  will  find  it  out  in  time. 
Generally  men  have  themselves  to  blame  for  such  a  state  of 
affairs,  and  find  it  hard  to  bear.  But  if  it  is  hard  for  them, 
what  must  it  be  for  the  woman?  Tliink  of  that,  reader,  think  of 
that! 

When  shall  we  three  meet  again?  —  that  is,  husband,  wife 
and  love  —  is  often  thought  as  the  twain  enter  the  room  where 
each  is  to  call  and  be  the  other's  own ;  and  if  fine  ears  could 
catch  the  answer,  the  sound  would  strikingly  resemble  the  sad 
word  Never  I 

As  Heaven  intended  us  all  for  joy,  and  gave  us  the  elements 
of  being  happj^  it  is  to  a  great  extent  our  own  fault  if  we  fail 
to  reach  the  shining  shore.  The  reason  is  that  we  find  it  much 
easier  to  run  down  hill  to  Hades,  than  to  climb  a  little  toward 
the  table-lands  of  Heaven. 

No  diamond  without  its  resemblant  paste,  no  light  without 


78  WOMAK,    LOVE,    AKD   MARRIAGE. 

a  shadow,  no  joy  without  a  horror,  and,  true  to  the  rule,  there 
is  more  than  one  dreadful  counterfeit  of  the  perfectly  holy 
thing  just  tried  to  be  described,  the  angelic,  or  rather  the  truly 
human  affectione.  Let  the  portrait  of  oue  of  the  most  fearful 
and  devastating  counterfeits  of  them  all  here  be  painted : 
Reader,  have  you  never  encountered  pale,  thin-lipped,  strange- 
eyed,  singular-looking,  mysterious,  semi-silent,  reticent,  yet 
periodically  loquacious,  eat-you-up-ish  persons,  —  females  of  the 
outre  stamp  mainly,  who  possessed  a  certain  positive,  yet 
nameless,  but  fathomless  quality,  not  merely  of  physique, 
mood,  manner,  gifts,  or  acomplishments,  but  all  of  them  and 
something  more  beside,  differing  from  them  all?  —  people  with 
curious  gait,  peculiar  eyes,  and  very  strange,  disturbing,  sense- 
enthralling  glances  from  those  weird  and  terrible  eyes,  —  her 
eyes,  —  the  eyes  of  Herodias,  —  she  who  asked  for  the  Baptist's 
head  in  a  charger,  as  she  made  merry  before  the  king,  and 
for  which,  the  legend  tells  us,  Christ  commanded  her  to  walk 
the  earth  till  he  came  again  ;  just  as  he  sentenced  the  Jew 
Ahasuerus,  to  the  same  penalty  for  a  like  offence  against  the 
Master,  as  hers  was  against  his  best  beloved,  John,  —  peerless, 
lovable,  thrice-blessed  John !  and  the  one  went  east  and  the 
other  west,  and  once  in  a  century  they  met,  and  where  they 
met  cholera  and  famine,  plague  and  fire,  devastated  the  homes 
of  men,  and  as  man}r  thousands  perished  as  they  had  hairs  in 
their  heads !  —  eyes  like  Herodias'  ej'es,  longing  for  your  life- 
blood  !  —  eyes  which  look  you  through,  cut,  cleave,  carve, 
mercilessly  divide  you,  lacerate,  yet,  strange  to  say,  at  the 
same  time,  confuse,  soften,  melt,  charm,  fascinate,  bind,  and 
chain  your  very  spirit,  and,  despite  your  struggles,  take  you, 
sense  and  senses  too,  captive  before  you  fairly  know  your 
real  danger ;  for  they  put  the  will  to  sleep,  and  soon  you  are  in 
a  sweetly  delicious,  but  terrible  thraldom !  If  you  have  not 
had  such  an  experience,  you  have  not  attended  many  of  the 
sorosis  and  other  world-renewing  conclaves  of  the  sober  sisters, 
nor  the  "  circles  "  "  seances  "  and  conversational  levees,  held 
everywhere  in  these  days  by  the  multiform  and  myriad  mem- 
bers of  the  Circean  sisterhood  ;   women   in    appearance  only, 


woman;  love,  and  marriage.  79 

but  in  reality,  many  of  them,  conscienceless  soul-leeches,  who 
deplete,  exhaust,  demoralize,  and  render  gross,  loose,  and 
desperate,  any  and  every  one  who  approaches  near  and  remains 
long  enough  to  be  saturated  with  the  hadean  aura  perpetually 
evolved  from  them.  There,  is,  however,  one  consolation,  —  vam- 
pires seldom  live  long,  for  Nature  herself,  repentant  of  her  parent- 
age of  such  beings,  decrees  them  but  a  limited  period  wherein  to 
revolve  in  earthly  orbits,  and  then,  in  pity,  removes  them  bevcnd 
the  veil,  to  where  their  abnormalities  can  be  corrected,  because 
there  is  nothing  for  them  to  feed  on  over  there.  True,  we  are  told 
that  such  beings,  uneasy  still  beyond  the  grave,  return  to  earth 
and  fasten  upon  innumerable  victims  here  ;  but  then,  if  this  be  so, 
we  have  a  sure  protection  in  prayer  and  will,  inspired  by  faith 
in  God,  able  to  shield  us  from  all  such  envenomed  attacks  ;  and 
moreover,  it  is  a  singular  fact,  that  within  the  pale  of  the  Chris- 
tian church  even  such  are  powerless,  and  they  can  only  fasten 
upon  those,  who,  moving  in  a  morbid  sphere  of  life,  breathing 
sickly  mental  air,  are  already  tinctured  and  tainted  with  the 
poison,  and  thus  attract  such  leeches  just  as  carrion  does  the 
far-off  buzzards  of  southern  lands.  It  may  be  set  down  as 
absolutely  certain,  that  only  where  inviting  pastures  are  will 
these  harpies  from  the  hells  upon  the  other  side  come  trooping, 
rushing,  flying,  to  sate  their  baleful  greed,  and  quench  a  thirst 
born  with  them,  because  the  mothers  who  brought  them  into 
being  vainly  yearned  and  longed  for  love,  affection,  something 
to  appease  the  deathless  thirst  that  consumed  them  while  bear- 
ing the  child,  whose  whole  nature  thus,  in  consequence,  became 
warped  for  lack  of  what  every  mother  absolutely  needs,  and 
without  which  both  she  and  her  babe  are  rendered  wretched 
and  desolate  indeed. 

Every  human  being  is  the  exact  expression  of  the  conditions 
existent  when  the}-  were  called  into  existence. 

At  this  point  it  may  as  well  be  stated  that  it  is  notorious,  that 
wherever  you  find  a  radical  religionist,  society-builder,  pseudo- 
reformatory  philosopher,  extreme  political  regenerationist,  free- 
lover,  passional  attractionist,  pseudo  and  self-styled  spiritual 
mediums,  iconoclasts  generally,  and  especially  brawlers  against 


80  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND    MARRIAGE. 

marriage,  for  divorce,  and  new-fangled,  half-digested  schemes 
of  social  reform,  you  will  find  every  one  of  them  to  be  one- 
sided ;  high,  but  narrow-headed  ;  uneven  ;  angular  ;  dyspeptic  ; 
passion-ridden  impracticables  ;  fungi  of  the  mental  world  ;  half 
men,  half  women,  whose  very  organizations  prove  them  the 
offspring  of  parents  about  whom  there  floated  an  atmosphere 
of  some  sort  of  wroug,  misery,  warpedness,  unrest,  wretched- 
ness ;  and  their  children  are  living  proofs  that  they  were  badly 
gestated,  and  worse  brought  forth ;  because  no  normal,  sane, 
mentally  equilibrated  man  or  woman  ever  exhibits  the  sharp 
corners  these  people  do,  and  who  are  ever  full  of  caprice, 
quirks,  turns,  inconsistencies,  —  now  this,  then  that,  and  noth- 
ing long,  —  unenduring  in  any  direction,  save  in  the  chronic 
discontent  which  is  a  part  of  their  very  nature,  and  the  legiti- 
mate expression  of  their  parents'  states  before  themselves 
came  to  the  world,  not  by  any  means  to  make  it  better,  or  to 
bless,  but  to  upset  and  drive  it  mad  and  wild;  by  their  persever- 
ing but  futile  efforts  to  improve  what  only  God  can  make  better 
in  his  own  good  time,  and  own  grand  way. 

That  the  absence  of  love  at  home  is  the  cause  of  all  the  ter- 
rible evils  that  afflict  society,  is  a  very  painful,  but  solemn 
truth.  It  may  not  appear  so  upon  a  cursory  and  superficial 
view ;  but  in  the  final  analysis  will  incontestably  demonstrate 
itself.  If  every  man  loved  his  wife  and  children,  and  every 
wife  her  husband  and  famity,  there  would  exhale  from  the  body 
politic  a  divine  aura,  —  an  atmosphere  of  goodness,  love,  truth, 
and  purity,  in  which  it  were  an  utter  impossibility  for  hatred, 
lust,  gambling,  drinking,  anger,  cheating,  lying,  slander,  or 
any  other  bad  thing,  to  exist ;  simply  because  there  would  be 
nothing  for  them  to  feed  upon. 

God  rules  the  world,  and  Chance  has  no  hand  in  the  matter  at 
all ;  and  ignorance  of  his  laws  occasions  all  the  marital  discord 
on  the  planet ;  hence  it  is  because  woman's  true  nature  and 
demands  are  not  comprehended  or  appreciated  by  either  herself 
or  the  male  world,  that  evil  exists  everywhere  as  the  qualita- 
tive and  quantitative  expression  of  exact  conditions  obtaining 
in  her  life  and  world. 


woman;  love,  and  marriage.  81 

Various  so-called  remedies  have  been  concocted  and  put 
forth  for  this  universal  bad  state  of  things,  for  instance,  Free 
homesteads,  Woman's  rights,  Suffrage,  Office-holding,  New 
religions,  and  ten  thousand  things  beside,  all  just  about  as 
effective  in  reality  as  the  pope's  bull  against  the  comet,  simply 
because  wholly  unnatural. 

A  woman  whose  heart  is  full  of  love,  and  whose  love 
is  returned,  is  contented,  and  can  no  more  go  gadding 
about  preaching  impossible  doctrines  than  she  could  deliber- 
ately strangle  the  babe  of  her  bosom.  Of  course  it  need  not 
be  here  repeated  that  actual  love,  being  all  a  woman  requires, 
is  not  merely  the  cure  of  evils  resulting  from  the  reaction  of 
morbid  states  of  mind  upon  her  body,  which  reactions  pass  by 
innumerable  high-sounding  Latin  names,  —  is  not  only  the 
cure  for,  but  preventive  of  diseases  of  all  sorts  now  in  the 
world.  If  more  women  were  like  Mary,  there  were  more 
Christ-like  men  in  the  world ;  for  as  the  mothers  mould  the 
children,  the  exhibitions  of  perversion  in  the  world  show  how 
very  imperfectly  she  at  present  does  her  work.  A  good  deal 
of  these  bad  results  spring  from  the  mutual  humbug  of  the 
wooing  days  ;  for  it  often  happens  that  the  love  which  touched 
two  hundred  degrees  three  weeks  before  marriage,  sinks  below 
zero  six  months  afterwards,  —  when  the  fine,  sharp,  keen  edge  is 
worn  off;  and  unless  the  man,  but  especially  the  woman,  takes 
special  pains  to  rebuild  the  fallen  edifice,  lasting  ruin  is  sure  to 
mark  their  wedded  life  thenceforth.  Humbug  reigns,  yet  need 
not,  for  there's  as  much  love  in  existence  to-day  as  on  that 
glad  morn  when  the  morning  stars  sang  together  for  joy,  and 
the  sons  of  God  were  made  joyful.  The  fact  is,  four-fifths  of 
the  women  in  the  world  to-day,  married  and  single,  are  actually 
love-starved,  and  dying  for  what  is  either  wasted,  perverted,  or 
wholly  smothered. 

As  a  provisional  step  toward  a  true  state  of  things,  there  is 
no  good  reason  why  a  woman  should  not  express  her  preference 
and  love,  as  well  as  a  man ;  for  as  things  are  now,  it  is  very 
often  Hobson's  choice  with  them,  —  a  piece  of  a  man,  or  none 
at  all.  Woman  has  now  but  a  slim  chance  of  happiness,  oi 
6 


82  WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   M ARM  AGE. 

even  to  develop  her  better,  higher,  nobler,  deeper,  and  more 
delicate  and  feminine  character,  because  the  tendency  of  the 
ages  has  hitherto  been  toward  masculinity  in  all  directions ; 
hence  she  must  move  with  the  current,  or  not  at  all. 

But  whosoever  says  that  man  is  wholly  to  blame  for  the  actual 
condition  of  the  great  majority  of  women  is  a  fool ;  as  well  as 
he  who  should  assert  that  she  herself,  individually  and  collec- 
tively, is  not  at  fault.  Go  out  in  our  streets  any  grand  gala 
day,  like  July  4th,  and  look  squarely  in  the  faces  of  the  thou- 
sands of  women  and  girls  you  meet,  as  they  come  swarming 
into  town,  and  not  in  one  face  out  of  fifty  you  meet,  will  you 
detect  the  slightest  trace  of  thought,  thought-power,  genuine 
ideal  woman  or  girlhood  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  a  dead  level  of 
mediocre  commonplace,  —  a  frippery  and  childish  abandon, 
from  which  it  is  hopeless  to  expect  anything  higher  than  gossip 
and  gabble.  This  criticism  may  be  harsh,  but  it  is  just ;  for  not 
in  over  one  face  in  a  thousand  will  you  see  the  lines  of  a 
marked  and  distinct  character.  If,  then,  woman  will  not 
improve  what  chance  she  has,  with  what  justice  can  she  expect 
her  cause  to  be  championed?  Let  her  avail  herself  of  her 
undoubted  opportunities,  and  demonstrate  her  desire  to  stand 
on  the  place  she  craves  and  ought  to  occupy,  and  no  power  on 
the  globe  can  keep  her  from  it,  and  indeed  none  will  seriously 
try  to.  The  fact  is,  both  sides,  both  sexes,  are  faulty,  —  woman 
for  not  being  what  she  might,  and  man  for  expecting  too  much 
from  her  in  view  of  the  chances  he  has  given  her  and  she  has 
improved.  The  majority  of  women  are  mere  mechanical 
puppets,  moved  by  springs.  They  will  not  think,  but  persist 
in  moving  on  the  prairie  lands  and  dead  levels. of  the  exceed- 
ingly commonplace.  Of  course  there  are  exceptions,  but 
exceptions  do  not  make  human  society,  the  people,  the  world, 
or  build  a  nation's  greatness.  It  is  in  the  great  mass  of  women 
we  require  to  instil  loftier  ideas  of  their  nature  and  destiny ; 
it  is  the  school-girl  whom  we  need  to  cultivate ;  and  it  is  the 
mothers,  sisters,  wives,  of  the  "  huge-paws  "  and  commonality 
whom  we  want  to  raise ;  and  not  your  he-she-gabblers ;  nor 
your  polished  treader  on  velvet  carpets  ;  for  one  good  country 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE.  83 

girl  or  sewing  maid,  for  the  world's  practical  uses,  is  worth 
five  hundred  such.  "We  must  go  to  work  there  if  we  would 
succeed,  —  ay,  and  lower  still,  —  and  rescue  the  millions  now  in 
the  broad  maw  of  ruin,  and  in  saving  them  teach  the  lessons 
of  labor,  love,  and  sweet  charity,  and  instead  of  cursing  the 
poor  wanton  by  the  wayside,  save  her  if  possible,  for  she  may 
yet  mother  heroes  ;  but  if  we  cannot  save  her,  then  let  us  arm 
ourselves  with  good-will  toward  her,  and  in  the  true  Christian 
spirit  say,  as  say  these  lines,  —  blessed  lines  !  — 

"  Where'er  her  troubled  path  may  he, 

The  Lord's  sweet  pity  with  her  go ! 
The  outward,  wayward  life  we  see, 

The  hidden  spring  we  may  not  know. 
Nor  is  it  given  us  to  discern 

What  threads  the  fatal  sisters  spun ; 

Through  what  ancestral  years  has  run 

The  sorrow  with  the  woman  born ; 
What  forged  her  cruel  chain  of  moods, 
What  set  her  feet  in  solitudes, 

And  held  the  love  within  her  mute ; 
What  mingled  madness  in  the  blood, 

A  lifelong  discord  and  annoy, 

Water  of  tears  with  oil  of  joy, 
And  hid  within  the  folded  bud 

Perversities  of  flower  and  fruit. 
It  is  not  ours  to  separate 
The  tangled  skin  of  will  and  fate, 
To  show  that  metes  and  bounds  shall  stand 

Upon  the  soul's  debatable  land, 
And  between  choice  and  providence 
Divide  the  circle  of  events  : 

But  He  who  knows  our  frame  is  just, 
Merciful,  and  compassionate, 
And  full  of  sweet  assurances, 
And  hope  for  all  the  langnage, 

That  He  remembered  we  are  dust !  " 

Let  us  take  a  case  of  vampirism, — -as  it  actually  occurred,  — 
and  thus  show  how  it  works,  and  what  its  effects  are,  to  the  end 
of  saving  those  from  ruin,  who  may  hereafter  suffer  attacks  from 


S4  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

that  Mephistean  source.  Given  to  start  with,  a  meeting 
between  the  female  ghoul  and  her  intended  prey,  —  for  let  it  be 
known  vampires  always  plan  their  raids  and  conquests  ;  while 
people  never  fall  in  love  on  purpose,  —  for  love  is  the  flame 
kindled  either  instantly,  at  first  sight,  or  is  gradually,  imper- 
ceptibly grown  into.  Well,  in  less  than  twenty  minutes  after 
they  twain  have  met,  he  has  become  completely  fascinated  and  is 
affectionally  wholly  absorbed  by  her ;  thinks  her  more  than 
celestial,  divine,  adorable,  and  thenceforth  is  only  at  ease  when 
she  is  the  sole  subject  and  object  of  his  thought ;  and  he  pines 
for  her  presence  (simply  because  she  is  drawing  his  very  life 
and  soul  out  of  him,  by  a  magnetic  and  exceedingly  nrysterious 
but  diabolic  process),  sighs,  longs,  yearns  for  her  as  the  babe 
a-hungered  does  for  its  mother,  or  the  parched  and  thirsty  soil 
for  rain.  When  she  has  him  well  in  hand,  she  tries  her  power 
variously,  as  by  putting  on  airs,  being  whimsical,  odd,  jealous, 
exciting  his  jealousy  ;  insisting  that,  unreasonably,  he  shall  dis- 
card all  others,  but  her  own  bleary  self,  and  she  delights  in  tor- 
turing and  exciting  him  in  every  possible  way.  She  will  make 
him  promises,  purposely  break,  and  then,  when  he  least  expects 
it,  fulfil  them  to  the  letter.  If  he  is  poor,  she  will  offer  to,  and 
frequently  actually  will,  assist  him ;  and  at  other  times  will 
extract  his  last  dollar.  Now  she  doats  on  him  ;  then  turns  to 
rend  him  ;  ending  the  drama  b}r  falling  into  raptures  and  declar- 
ing heaven  only  is  to  be  found  in  his  presence.  She  appears  to 
love  him  tenderly,  dearly,  desperately;  but  it  is  appearance 
only  ;  for  such  a  woman  cannot  love  ;  her  very  nature  forbids  it. 
True  affection  is  a  garden  barred  to  her  access  hy  flaming 
swords,  as  in  the  land  of  Eden  in  the  twilight  of  the  foretime. 
That  strange  passion  she  inspires  is  no  mere  fane}7,  no  idle  hal- 
lucination, or  imaginative  fantasia,  but  is  fearfully  real,  but 
lurid,  dreadful,  soul-benumbing,  will-paralyzing,  unmitigatedly 
demoniac  in  its  effects  upon  the  man,  if  the  subject  of  its  hor- 
ripilant  energies  be  a  man  ;  or  on  the  woman,  if  the  victim  be 
such  ;  but  the  pestilent  power  is  wielded  ten  times  by  females 
to  every  once  by  the  sterner  sex.  While  under  the  spell,  the 
man  thus  vampired  can  only  fitfully,  spasmodically  read,  write, 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  85 

eat,  drink,  sleep,  pray,  enjoy  life,  or  the  society  of  his  friends, 
against  the  latter  of  which  she  takes  good  care  to  prejudice  and 
arm  him,  especially  those  of  her  own  apparent  sex ;  and  the 
victim  soon  becomes  entirely  engulfed  in  and  by  this  one 
blind  madness  of  his  life,  —  a  madness  fearful  from  its  unreason- 
ingness,  its  utter  fatuity,  burning,  fiery  fervor.  Let  no  one 
imagine  for  a  moment  that  all  or  even  one-fiftieth  part  of  this 
unrest  is  of  a  passional  nature,  because  such  is  not  and  never 
wholly  was  the  case ;  for  in  a  hundred  other  respects  it  is  to 
him  consuming,  wild,  agonizing,  health-destroying,  heart-crush- 
ing, moral-blasting,  soul-withering ;  and  his  life,  energy,  man- 
hood, will  go  out  of  him  day  by  day,  while  the  thing  that  looks 
like,  but  is  not  truly  a  woman,  who  is  destroying  all  his  hopes 
of  earth,  and  heaven  too,  is  really  as  cool  and  unmoved  as  if 
sitting  at  the  supper-table.  "Will  you  walk  into  my  parlor? 
said  the  spider  to  the  fly."  And  such  a  woman  is  a  human 
spider  ;  and  it  matters  not  to  her  what  color,  age,  race,  or  char- 
acter the  flies  are,  so  long  as  they  get  entangled  in  the  meshes 
of  her  infernal  web,  and  she  can  thereby  prolong  her  life  at  the 
expense  of  their  blood  and  vitality  ;  for  the  vampire  waxes  fat 
and  strong,  and  even  her  hair  will  grow  darker  and  more  glossy 
while  she  feeds  upon  her  human  fly !  The  culmination  of 
the  drama  is  either  death,  or  a  violent  disruption  of  the  malific 
relationship.  Victims  everywhere  may  see  their  danger,  and 
with  a  single  prayerful  effort  of  the  will,  break  their  gyves  and 
burst  their  chains  forever. 

Take  a  ghoul  as  painted  here  from  an  original,  and  ask  3'our- 
self,  was  ever  such  a  woman  really  wooed  ?  was  ever  such  a 
woman  really  won  ?  —  actually  touched  with  genuine  love  or 
affection  ?  It  is  an  undecided  question,  but  looks  rather  doubt- 
ful, for  such  human  beings  are  in  this  world,  just  what  certain 
vines  and  parasites  are  in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  deriving 
their  sole  life  by  extracting  it  from  others,  themselves  having 
no  root  whatever  in  nature,  and  but  little  on  immortal  life. 
Orientals  say  that  no  ghoul  can  attain  to  immortal  life.  Can 
they? 

But  is  even  such  a  person  beyond  the  pale  of  God's  mercy? 


86  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

Is  there  no  joy,  no  hope,  for  them?  Are  they  lost  forever? 
These  are  terrible  questions,  and  would  require  a  longer  essay 
than  is  practicable  just  now  ;  still  a  brief  answer  may  be  given. 
There  is  hope  of  redemption,  but  it  must  be  found,  like  every 
other  true  remedy  for  affectional  ills,  within  the  pale  of  honest 
marriage,  and  by  resolutely  trying  to  live  the  higher,  nobler, 
better,  and  purer  life. 

The  singular  power  wielded  by  a  spider-woman  fastens, 
leashes,  binds  her  human  fly  to  her  by  cords  stronger  than  a 
hempen  cable.  She  sometimes,  though  very  seldom,  goes 
through  the  marriage  ceremony  with  her  victim,  —  for  that 
would  be  to  tie  her,  —  and  all  such  women  are  freedom-shriek- 
ers  ;  but  occasionally  will  persuade  their  dupes,  that  in  order  to 
appear  respectable  and  stop  the  speech  of  people,  it  may  be 
necessary  to  appear  as  husband  and  wife,  to  do  which  a  "  mar- 
riage under  protest,"  or  for  so  long  as  both  can  agree ;  or  a 
"  mediumistic "  celebration  of  the  rite ;  or  a  "  philosophic 
ceremony,"  —  all  of  which  are  blinds,  cheats,  shams,  mockeries, 
illegal,  unrighteous,  invalid,  of  no  account  in  law,  and  much 
less  in  gospel,  —  is  just  the  thing ;  besides  which,  even  such 
a  swindle  might  give  her  a  right  to  his  property  in  case  of 
death,  which  she  would  very  likely  hasten  by  aid  of  a  little 
strychnine,  or  a  few  grains  of  cyanide,  or  some  other  photo- 
graphic condiment,  if  need  be  ! 

What  fool  in  love  could  resist  such  blandishments  ?  Few. 
Hence  the  chances  are,  that  to  gain  her  point  the  spider  will 
induce  the  otherwise  sensible  fly  to  take  a  trip  in  the  cars  and 
have  the  "mediumistic"  or  "new-light"  mummery  gone 
through  with,  after  which  woe  be  unto  him,  for  his  fate  is  sealed, 
unless  God's  moral  thunders  crash  upon  the  ears  of  his  soul, 
and  waken  him  to  the  actual  situation.  God  does  so  thunder. 
Souls  have  thus  awoke  ;  vampires  have  been  foiled  thereby, 
and  men  have  been  saved  from  total  wreck,  and  will  be  again ; 
for  are  we  not  in  his  hands  who  foileth  the  wicked,  and  doeth 
all  things  well,  saves,  with  outstretched  hand,  whoever  cries, 
"Come,  Father"? 

Vain  are  the  efforts  of  friends  who  scent  the  danger,  and 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  87 

seek  to  annul  the  disastrous  rapport,  and  cut  the  cruel  bonds. 
None  are  so  blind  as  those  who  will  not  see ;  and  so  the  fly's 
whole  being  is  wrapped  up  in  the  pale,  thin-lipped  spider ;  and 
nothing  but  her  fangs  in  his  heart  will  suffice  to  make  him  be- 
lieve her  aught  but  an  angel,  or  rouse  him  from  his  stupid 
lethargy. 

Whoever  has  trouble  in  the  kidneys,  save  from  accident,  has 
had  difficulties  of  an  affectional  nature ;  and  if  of  a  vampiral 
character,  these  organs  are  sure  to  be  painful  and  disordered, 
if  not  positiveby  diseased.  Loss  of  memory  and  fancy  follow 
next,  and  if  total  loss  of  nubile  energy  does  not  supervene,  the 
victim  is  a  lucky  one,  that's  all.  Such  a  woman  is  a  moral 
leper,  poisoning  all  she  contacts  ;  and  if  your  town  or  village 
has  a  single  one  of  the  genus  in  it,  she's  a  fruitful  scourge 
assuredly. 

Not  many  years  ago,  when  the  writer's  blood  was  a  little 
younger  than  it  is  to-day,  he  formed  the  acquaintance  of  a 
woman,  who  was  a  full-blown  vampire,  of  the  most  marked 
character  ;  she  was  disliked  by  nearly  every  one,  and  yet  in 
spite  of  their  teeth,  so  to  speak,  ruled  everybody  she  met,  and 
chose  to  exert  her  baleful  power  over,  with  as  much  natural 
ease  as  a  queen  bee  reigns  paramount  over  her  hive  ;  even 
while  every  one  of  her  victims  knew  her  to  be  a  leper  in  a 
triple  sense  ;  for  her  very  presence  was  poison,  her  every  breath 
redolent  of  something  far  worse  than  the  Egyptian  scourge  ; 
for  while  that  contaminated  blood  and  body,  this  did  as  much, 
and  burned  the  soul  beside ;  upsetting  the  very  basis  of  honor, 
purity,  manhood ;  and  her  influence  was  a  thousand  times  more 
demoralizing  than  that  of  the  painted  Cyprian  stalking  o'er  the 
town,  for  the  reason  that  the  latter  being  mercenary,  only  car- 
ried a  less  deadly  trail,  and  exhaled  a  less  destructive  aura. 
The  writer  had  rather  his  son  or  daughter  should  fill  an  un- 
timely grave  than  be  exposed  for  long  to  the  contaminating  and 
pestilent  personal  atmosphere  evolved  from  such  people.  For 
it  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  persons  sound,  sane,  manly,  good, 
to  become  utterly  demoralized,  even  to  the  extent  of  the  most 


88  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

terrible  blasphemy,  within  a  very  short  time  after  being  well- 
charged  with  the  infernal  exuviae,  the  protoplasmic  evil  of 
such  harpies  and  ghouls. 

Have  you  never  felt,  as  it  were,  your  very  soul's  purest, 
sweetest  vitality  —  its  life-essence,  magnetic,  electric  and 
nervous,  combined  —  gushing  from  your  entire  being,  soul  and 
body  too,  in  one  full,  breakless,  deep,  rich  stream,  you  knew 
not  why,  when  in  the  presence  of  particular  persons  ;  and  Which 
in  spite  of  you,  flowed  toward  them,  keeping  you  fretful,  sus- 
picious, hopeful,  sorrowful,  desperate,  all  by  turns  when  they 
were  by,  and  in  a  longing,  restless,  unquietable  condition  con- 
tinually, in  their  absence,  yet  in  both  cases  without  either  the 
hope  or  assurance,  the  pure,  sweet  satisfaction  which  unmis- 
takably would  attend  upon  a  true,  healthy  affection,  no  matter 
whether  the  attraction  were  reciprocal  or  not  ? 

Have  you  not  heard  or  seen  persons  who  have  became  insane, 
utterly  crazed  ;  and  have  you  not  been  told,  by  those  who  ought 
to  know  better,  that  true  love  has  made  them  so  ?  Undoubtedly 
there  are  cases  wherein  reason  has  been  dethroned  from  genuine 
love,  impeded  or  frustrated  altogether  in  its  course ;  but  that 
such  is  the  case  generally  is  demonstrably  untrue.  It  is  no 
such  thing  in  nine  out  of  ten  instances  attributed  to  that  cause. 
Love  works  no  such  disastrous  results  in  healthy  minds  ;  but 
the  victims  have  fallen  before  the  attack  of  its  dreadful  counter- 
feit, now  being  analyzed  and  traced  to  its  real  and  fundamental 
causes.  Love  and  its  train  are  heaven-sent;  but  the  passion 
written  of  here  is  a  thing  of  lower  worlds  than  that,  or  this 
either,  and  bears  no  more  real  resemblance  to  the  true  principle 
than  ghastly  murder  does  to  sweet  charity's  hand. 

Have  you  never  suddenly  felt  a  peculiar  and  indescribable 
thrill  pervade  your  very  being,  when  some  perfect  stranger  has 
crossed  your  path,  but  whose  momentary,  though  positive  in- 
fluence, stubbornly  refused  to  quit  its  hold  upon  you  ?  If  so, 
you  are  here  called  to  note  the  difference  between  it  and  love ; 
for  the  latter  leaves  a  longing  calm ;  the  former  a  quenchless 
thirst,  and  fervid  soul-storm. 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  89 

There  are  threes  or  trines  in  all  things  whatever,  whether  of 
the  physical,  moral,  mental,  metaphysical,  or  affectional  worlds  ; 
and  in  nothing  more  perfectly  than  in  this  latter  ;  for  the  love- 
world,  being  the  fundamental  basis  of  human  nature,  has  its 
trinity  even  more  absolutely  than  has  any  other  section  of  man's 
interior  econon^.  Accoixlingly  there  is,  what  perhaps  will  be 
more  clearly  apprehended  by  the  term  heart-trine,  or  heart-tri- 
angle. One  line,  ai'C,  or  limb  of  this  trine,  this  centre  being,  is 
love,  by  which  is  here  meant  the  mutual  outflow  and  inflow 
(affectional  systole  and  diastole  —  the  tides  —  action  and  re- 
action—  response)  between  a  woman's  heart,  not  material  but 
emotional ;  she  being  well-fitted,  or  fully  adapted  to  her 
opposite,  and  a  man's  heart  well-fitted  likewise.  Wherever  two 
such  are  thus  fully  met  and  well-fitted,  there  can  be  no  jealousy, 
suspicion,  discontent,  rivalry,  uneasiness,  or  unrest,  save  of 
course,  in  the  latter  case,  prior  to  legal  and  actual,  mutual, 
marriage  ;  but  not  in  any  one  of  the  other  items  of  the  list. 

The  true  and  never-failing  proof  of  well-fittedness  is  ever  the 
satisfiedness  of  the  twain ;  for  in  all  such  cases  the  loved  one 
looms  up  very  much  higher  before  the  loving  eyes  than  any 
one  else  possibly  can  ;  no  matter  how  great  may  be  that  other's 
advantages  of  person,  position,  youth,  beauty,  power,  wealth, 
fame,  or  any  combination  of  them  all.  Because  true  love  ever 
opens  the  e}res  of  the  lover  to  the  advantages  of  the  loved,  and 
disadvantages  of  every  one  else,  and  shuts  them  tightly  to  the 
faults  of  the  loved  and  to  the  good  points  of  all  others.  It  is 
its  nature  so  to  do.  If  any  so-called  lover,  if  any  wife  or  hus- 
band, ever  hears  a  constant  ding-dong  of  fault-finding  and 
criticism  from  the  lips  of  the  pretended  lovee,  or  of  the  wife  or 
husband,  it  is  an  incontrovertible  proof  that  the  love  felt  is  very 
lukewarm,  and  decidedly  fair-weatherish,  is  easily  drawn  aside, 
gets  sick  quickly,  and  is  sure  to  come  up  missing  at  the  very 
hour  it  is  most  needed  to  sustain  a  soul  amid  the  war  and 
tumult  of  life  and  its  accidents.  Such  love  is  no  love,  only 
pride,  vanity,  interest,  selfishness,  or,  worse  than  all,  passion : 
for  if  one  perpetually  thinks  of  qualities  desirable  in  the  other, 
which  that  other  hath  not,  yet  refrains  from  constant  effort  tc 


90  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

develop  said  qualities  in  that  other,  then  such  persons  are  only 
in  part  well-fitted  to  each  other,  —  are  merely  friends,  and  by 
no  means  true  lovers.  Love  is  an  allness  each  to  the  other. 
Friendship  is  but  a  partness,  and  is  sometimes  selfish,  which 
love  never  was  and  never  can  be.  The  finer  the  grade,  nerves, 
brain,  build,  and  culture  of  a  man  or  woman,  the  higher  and 
nobler  are  the  love  and  friendship  they  are  capable  of  feeling  and 
inspiring,  so  that  what  would  pass  for  ardent  affection  with 
and  to  people  of  grade  "  A,"  would  be  but  a  moderate  affection 
in  those  of  grade  "  B."  People  sometimes  think  they  love 
above  their  own  natural  rank.  But  is  this  so  ?  Can  there  be 
perfect  unanimity  where  one  outranks  the  other  in  the  natural 
scales,  of  soul,  body,  intelligence,  and  calibre?  Can  such  an 
union  be  perfect  and  satisfy  each  ?  Is  it  not  rather  a  magnetic 
spell,  therefore  a  delusion,  from  which  both  are,  in  time,  sure  to 
awaken  to  actual  wretchedness?  Must  there  not  be  a  general 
if  not  special  equality  between  them  ?  must  not  Cupidon  woo 
Psyche,  and  must  not  Psyche  yield  her  all  to  Cupidon,  to  make 
the  relation  natural  and  complete  ?  Could  a  beautiful  cultured 
lady  return  the  full,  deep,  wild  love  of  an  earnest,  honest 
fervid,  but  uncultured,  thick-headed  savage  from  the  foundry 
or  the  ship-yard  ?  Can  soul  respond  to  muscle  ?  Doubted  !  Such  a 
thing  might  resemble,  but  could  not  really  be,  genuine  love. 
Pity,  compassion,  aspiration,  hope,  tenderness,  all  fall  far  short 
of  being  the  sine  qua  non.  There  must  be  soul-equality,  or  the 
pair  are  mis-matched.  Not  that  intellectual  powers  should  be 
on  a  level,  —  for  that  can  never  be,  and  is  hot  needed,  —  but  that 
the  great  qualities  of  one  should  be  balanced  by  some  special 
potency  of  equal  fineness  in  the  other.  People  often  wed  from 
friendship  and  imagine  it  love,  until  some  one  else  crosses  their 
path,  wakes  up  the  sleeper,  and  convinces  them  in  ten  seconds 
of  their  great  mistake.  Friendship  grows  apace  and  keeps  on 
till  death  or  financial  operations  slay  it ;  whereas  love  is  full- 
fledged,  generally,  at  its  very  birth  ;  its  subsequent  work  being 
one  of  mere  magnetic  and  ethereal  blending  or  chemical  assimi- 
lation, fusing,  mingling,  crystallization,  and  condensing ;  the 
sundering  of  whieh  produces  heart-agonies  compared  to  which 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  91 

death  itself  were  far  preferable.  Love,  then,  remember,  is  the 
central  figure  or  main  chord  of  the  great  heart-trine.  But  there 
are  two  other  lines  to  the  triangle  —  two  more  deep  things  or 
love-resemblant  passions  in  the  human  heart,  yet  which  really 
are  nothing  akin  thereto,  save  in  the  respect  in  which  a  brass 
coin  is  like  the  real  one. 

It  is  well  to  remember  that-  souls,  like  bodies,  are  of  varied 
timber,  texture,  weight,  and  value,  just  as  is  everything  else  on 
the  earth  or  orT  it.  Some  are  large,  full,  free,  open,  generous, 
noble,  time-enduring ;  others  are  cribbed,  crabbed,  small,  close, 
mean,  lank,  self-important,  arrogant.  No  two  blades  of  grass, 
no  pair  of  leaves,  on  all  earth's  green  fields,  or  in  her  boundless 
forests,  no  two  drops  of  water  in  all  her  teeming  seas,  or 
grains  of  sand  along  the  measureless  stretch  of  her  ocean  lines, 
are  exactly  alike  ;  and  for  a  man  or  woman  to  hunt  for  a  precise 
affinity,  viewed  from  their  individual  positions,  were  just  about 
as  sensible  a  task  as  to  undertake  to  match  a  leaf,  blade  of 
grass,  drop  of  water,  or  grain  of  sand  ;  for  no  two  alike  in  all 
the  vast  fields  of  space,  —  and  remember,  O  reader,  that  the 
material,  man-bearing  universe,  compared  to  the  soul-fields  of 
the  vastitudes  beyond,  are  but  as  a  tiny  little-acred  islet  on 
Pacific's  placid  waves,  —  a  mere  egg-shell  floating  on  the  bosom 
of  the  deep  !  Wherefore,  to  count  the  billionfold  starry  homes 
of  human  fraternities  and  zones  and  belts  of  space  alone, 
would  defy  a  seraph's  algebra ;  much  less  to  number  the  unit 
souls  composing  them !  But,  although  no  two  souls  are  alike, 
yet  they  are  often  so  closely  so  as  to  be  able  to  grow  compara- 
tive similitudes,  and  therefore  maintain  constantly  coalescing, 
and  therefore  happy,  unions.  Now  take  special  note  of  what 
follows :  When  a  woman  with  a  great  heart,  large,  broad, 
deep,  high,  and  aspiring  nature,  full  soul  and  well-constructed, 
compact,  healthy  body,  gives  birth  to  a  child,  the  father  of 
whom  she  hated,  from  her  soul's  base,  ask  yourself  if  it  is  pos- 
sible for  that  child  to  be  even  one  half  as  perfect  as  its  father 
may  have  been,  and  its  mother  unquestionably  is, —  an  earthly 
queen,  in  all  but  the  one  dark  blemish ;  and  for  which  causes, 
outside  of  herself,  are  responsible,  not  she.     In  such  a  case,  is 


92  WOMAN,   LOVE*   AND  MARRIAGE. 

it  reasonable  to  suppose  that  all  her  maternal  functions  were 
perfectly  performed?  and  she  having  not  a  drop  of  husbandly 
love  to  plant  in  its  nature,  but  with  an  overplus  of  hate,  dis- 
content, revengeful  feeling,  to  take  love's  place  ?  Can  she  be 
even  half  a  mother  under  such  conditions  ?  or  do  her  work  one- 
quarter  as  well  as  she  undoubtedly  is  capable  of,  now  that  all 
the  sweet  honey  of  her  nature  is  soured  and  bittered  by  bearing 
a  burden  she  hates,  as  well  as  its  author?  There  are  millions 
of  people  born  of  just  such  mothers,  under  just  such  conditions  ! 
Is  it  any  wonder  that  there  are  so  many  human  incongruities, 
halfnesses,  angularities,  contradictions,  and  moral  malforma- 
tions in  the  world  ?  for  if  such  a  mother  fails  to  mark  her  states 
upon  the  child's  bodj^,  she  is  sure  to  impress  them  unmistaka- 
bly upon  its  mind,  so  strongly,  too,  that  before  its  earthly  race 
is  run,  the  chances  are  ten  to  one  but  that  the  malevolent  or 
otherwise  non-healthful  bias  or  influence  will  crop  out  and 
develop  itself  in  pronounced  shape  and  energy  ;  and  it  may  be 
that  the  metaphysical  thing  in  her  mind  shall,  in  the  person  of 
her  child,  when  long  years  have  flown  by,  take  form  in  outward 
act,  and  startle  the  world  from  its  propriety  hy  some  strange 
and  unlooked-for  whim,  caprice,  or  violent  deed,  the  seeds  of 
which  she  planted,  instilled,  before  her  child  was  born  ;  ground 
into  his  or  her  very  bones  ;  for  which  deed,  when  justice  decides 
the  case,  the  actor  is  not  all  to  blame,  for,  in  fact,  he  or  she  is 
less  than  half  responsible.  Why?  Because  her  labor  was  not 
one  of  love,  willingness,  heart-desire  ;  but  her  office,  being  a 
semi-forced  one,  is  very  distastefully  performed.  Why  do  not 
social  regenerators  look  deeper  than  they  do?  Why  do  not 
writers  on  love  go  to  the  root  of  the  matter?  Why  do  not 
preachers  of  Christ's  Gospel  tell  their  hearers  that  love,  family, 
social,  domestic,  connubial  love,  lies  at  the  foundation  of  the 
social  structure  ;  explain  its  laws,  and  enforce  their  teachings? 
Now  the  chances  are  five  hundred  to  one,  that  such  a  child  of 
such  parentage  will  have  a  fine  physical  make-up  and  constitu- 
tion, like  its  mother's  ;  but  mark  ye !  Whereas  she  has  not 
loved  the  unborn,  it  comes  to  the  world  without  having  her  love 
crystallized  in  its  little  heart,  suffused  through  its  tiny  body, 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  93 

diffused  over  its  sea  of  nerves,  or  centred  in  its  new-born  soul, 
—  a  deadly  wrong  done  it  before  its  birth,  never  to  be  atoned 
for  afterwards  !  Thus,  there  being  no  love-crystals  in  its  nature, 
it  follows,  with  awful  certainty,  that  of  all  its  longings,  yearn- 
ings, aspirations,  struggles,  and  demands,  from  the  nipple  to 
the  coffin,  that  for  love  will  be  the  strongest,  fiercest,  most 
poignant,  restless,  deep,  unappeasable  ;  and  to  obtain  which,  it 
will  sacrifice  anything,  everything,  —  laws,  customs,  proprieties,, 
decencies  —  all  things  must  give  way  before  this  resistless 
appetite  and  natural  demand ;  yet  never  on  earth  will  it  be  able 
to  quench  this  natural,  yet  unnatural  thirst,  even  though  it 
could  consume  the  mountains  and  drink  the  oceans  dry.  Beauty, 
wealth,  talent,  fame,  passion,  all  will  tempt,  all  be  yielded  to, 
all  be  tried,  and  tried  in  vain.  Why?  Because  the  wrong  is 
constitutional,  was  inflicted  before  its  birth,  therefore,  unless  it 
is  possible  to  be  born  again  on  earth,  that  wrong  can  never  be 
redressed  ;  nor  in  this  life  can  it  be  righted,  and  possibly  never, 
in  all  the  vast  JEterne,  unless  God  shall  do  so  in  other  worlds 
than  ours !  Citizen,  legislator,  moralist,  preacher,  woman, 
man,  do  you  ask  to  see  one  prolific  fountain  whose  bitter 
waters  flood  the  lands  with  evils,  murders,  drunkenness,  rapes, 
libertinisms,  profligacy,  harlotage?  If  so,  behold  it  in  the  ter- 
rible facts  here  unmasked  !  Look  at  them  ;  gaze  upon,  and 
stare  them  squarely,  fairly,  in  the  face.  Reason  them  down? 
Correct  them  by  jails,  gibbets,  insane  retreats,  or  surmount 
them  by  any  subterfuge?  Impossible!  The  blood  of  Christ? 
No,  even  that  will  not  do  it,  for  the  purest  in  the  land,  select 
agents  of  the  living  Cod,  all  fall  before  the  storms  thus  origin- 
ating, and  for  a  time  repressed,  but  only  to  gather  greater  force, 
to  burst  in  fury  on  the  world,  scattering  death,  desolation,  ruin, 
and  despair  on  every  hand.  Blood  won't  do  it.  Love's  the 
only  remedy,  and  that  in  the  nature  of  a  preventive,  not  as  a 
cure ;  for  it  must  be  applied  months  before  the  child  is  born  ! 
Talk  no  more  about  the  divinity  of  Free  Love.  Behold  its 
roots,  and  marvel  no  longer  at  the  wraggled  bitterness  of  its 
pestilent  fruit.     Patent  panaceas  for  the  world's  great  sickness. 


94  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

indeed !     Go  to  !     Whoever  fancies  that  anything  but  connubial 
love  can  cure  it,  is  —  an  idiot. 

The  aptitude  for  inspiring  a  peculiar  form  of  what  passes  for 
love,  and  for  being  attracted  by  others,  resident  in  such  chil- 
dren everywhere,  is,  indeed,  wonderful,  enormous,  because  they 
continually  crave  what  nature  herself  tells  them  is  their  greatest 
want.  Nor  can  lust  appease  these  fires,  albeit  that  is  in  many 
cases  the  dreadful  resort  they  rush  to  at  first,  until  they  find, 
as  all  do,  sooner  or  later,  that  the  fires  grow  more  quenchless  by 
the  tery  means  hoped  and  relied  on  to  put  them  out. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Marriage  is,  but  ought  not  to  be,  a  lottery,  in  which  both 
parties  too  frequently  draw  blanks ;  hence  it  has  come  to  be 
looked  on  with  suspicion  by  far  too  many  men,  and  by  an 
equally  large  number  of  women  ;  but  the  latter  are  often,  by 
stress  of  circumstance,  compelled  to  enter  it,  if  for  no  other 
reason  than  what  they  hope  may  be  gained  thereby,  —  a  home  : 
and  at  any  rate  shelter  and  protection,  —  such  as  it  is  ! 

A  pupil  in  Sabbath  school  being  told  to  define  matrimony, 
and  having  heard  a  lady  declare  that  that  word  and  purgatory 
were  convertible  terms,  replied,  —  matrimony  —  purgatory, —  a 
place  or  state  of  punishment,  where  people  suffer,  for  longer  or 
shorter  terms,  the  agonies  of  the  nether  hells,  previous  to  their 
entrance  into  heaven.  The  lad  was  not  far  wrong,  —  as  times 
go! 

It  is  related  that  a  celebrated  wit  when  told  that  an  ac- 
quaintance had  just  married,  exclaimed,  Glad  of  it !  But 
reflecting  a  moment,  his  countenance  changed  to  a  compassion- 
ate expression  and  forgiveness,  and  he  added :  Yet  I  do  not 
know  why  I  should  wish  him  so  great  an  ill,  for  the  man  never 
did  me  any  harm  ! 

Such  things  ousrht  never  to  be  said  of  the  holiest  estate  known 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  95 

to  humanity  ;  nor  would  they  be  if  love  prevailed  in  the  home- 
stead, and  children  were  born  with  hearts  and  souls  and  bodies 
too,  full  to  the  brim  of  a  health  that  pervaded  and  enthrilled 
every  department  of  their  natures. 

Love,  of  all  other  things,  qualities  or  passions  of  the  human 
soul,  and  body  too,  may  truly  be  said  to  be  of  a  fluid  nature, 
because  it  flows  forth,  goes  to,  and  fills  up,  those  empty  or 
void  places  or  cells  in  all  unfilled  hearts  and  spirits  of  the  human 
world,  to  and  for  which  it  is  adapted,  and  was  designed  to  by 
the  great  Supreme. 

If  love  is  fluid  it  must  obey  the  laws  which,  in  other  depart- 
ments of  the  universe,  govern  all  things  of  like  nature.  These 
all  seek  their  level ;  so  does  love.  "We  have  already  seen,  in  the 
case  of  the  vampire-grade  of  mankind,  that  in  their  cases  there 
is  an  awful  void,  the  inevitable  consequence  of  which  is,  that 
wherever  they  go,  or  whoever  they  come  in  magnetic  or  even 
comparative  contact,  or  proximity  to  and  with,  there  is 
straightway  and  forthwith  an  involuntary  affectional  and  mag- 
netic tide  setting  toward  the  empty  heart  from  the  full  and 
flowing  one ;  and  with  especial  strength  if  the  vampire  be 
female  and  the  full  one  a  sensitive  male.  This  leeching  opera- 
tion will  take  place,  however,  even  if  both  parties  be  of  the 
same  sex,  or  the  full  one  be  a  child.  This  self-same  vampirism 
sometimes  takes  a  still  more  horrible  form,  and  in  that  case,  if 
the  ghoul  be  female,  she  feeds  on  her  own  sex.  If  a  male,  then 
boys  become  the  victims,  and  both  resort  to  practices  too 
infamously  horrible  to  be  more  than  hinted  at,  much  less 
described.  This  grade  of  demons  abound  in  Boston  to  a  far 
greater  extent  than  any  other  spot  on  earth,  as  the  police 
records  prove ;  and  yet  probably  one-fiftieth  of  the  villany  is 
never  found  out  and  punished  —  with  death,  as  it  should  be ! 
—  for  that,  Ingratitude,  and  Foeticide  are  the  three  king  crimes 
of  the  world,  the  nation  and  the  age  ! 

Philosophers,  or  rather  scientists,  have  told  us  that  attraction 
resides  in  a  point,  and  that  said  point  must  necessarily  be 
greater  in  volume,  bulk,  weight,  soliditj^,  than  the  entire  com- 
bination of  all  the  other  points,  bodies,  atoms,  or  worlds  which 


96  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

are  attracted  by  it,  for  such  is  the  inevitable,  inexorable, 
mathematical  law.  Now  these  philosophers  are  mainly  right, 
and  yet  they  are  wrong ;  because  both  fluids  and  bodies  rush 
toward  and  into  a  vacuum  quite  as  forcefully  as  they  do  toward 
a  bulky,  and  in  the  gravity  sense,  heavy  centre,  from  whieh 
centre  they  are  repelled  at  the  precise  moment  whenever  the 
two  forces  exactly  balance  each  other.  But  there  is  no  driving- 
off  force,  or  repellant  power  exerted  from  emptiness,  in  other 
words,  a  vacuum ;  hence  whatever  rushes  thitherward  must 
inevitably  be  swallowed  up,  dissipated,  lost ;  because  an  abso- 
lute, positive,  actual,  or  an  even  comparative  void,  necessarily 
is  immeasurably  more  attractive  than  any  magnetic  thing, 
centre,  or  body,  that  could  possibly  have  an  existence.  For 
instance,  to  demonstrate  this  almost  self-apparent  truth  by  a 
simple  example :  suppose  that  it  were  possible  to  displace  the 
Ether  of  Space  at  any  particular  section,  or  point  of  the  sidereal 
heavens  ;  and  to  cause  a  limited,  but  yet  a  certain  circumference 
to  be  wholly,  entirely,  destitute  of  aught  save  Room,  an  actual 
vacancy,  and  what  result  would  instantly,  tremendously, 
follow?  Why,  every  planet,  sun,  system,  galaxy,  every 
single  globe,  asteroid,  meteor,  ay,  every  atom  in  the  entire 
material  universe,  would  be  instantly  checked  in  their  orbital 
careers,  and  with  one  universal  consent  rush  toward  that 
empty  space  to  fill  it.  But  if,  after  they  reached  that  point, 
they  were  dissipated  into,  say  luminiferous  ether,  or  light,  the 
rush  would  continue  until  not  an  atom,  not  a  particle  of  matter 
would  remain  in  God's  great  domain  as  a  field  for  the  exercise 
of  his  benignant  energies. 

Now  the  laws  which  govern  all  matter  are  but  the  external 
expression  of  principles  imminent  in  mind,  spirit,  and  the 
general  soul  of  things  ;  for  we  have  attraction,  repulsion,  1'ise, 
flow,  ebb,  storms,  clouds,  sunshine,  heat,  cold,  quite  as  much 
in  our  mental  and  the  hyperph3Tsical  as  we  do  in  the  gross 
material  world,  save  that  these  laws  and  principles  express 
themselves  far  more  positively  and  vehemently  in  the  meta- 
physical than  in  the  atomic  or  particled  universe.  This  is  no 
mere  assumption,  having  no  firmer  foundation  than  the  writer's 


WOMAX,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  97 

ipse  dixit,  but  is  the  grand  conclusion  arrived  at  by  every 
thiuker  from  iEg}'ptia's  Thoth,  down  to  the  last  essayist  upon 
the  subject  now  on  the  globe.  It  must  therefore  be  considered 
an  irrefutable  dogma ;  and  being  so  it  follows,  with  merciless 
precision  and  force  of  logic,  nay,  absolute  certainty,  that  in 
the  case  of  a  person  organized  as  stated,  and  types  of  whom 
abound  everywhere,  that  the  verj'  void  or  emptiness  of  his  or  her 
soul  constitutes  an  attractive,  pulling,  puvipiny,  drawing  force, 
infinitely  greater,  stronger,  more  certain  in  its  effect,  than  if 
that  heart  were  filled  and  teeming  with  purest,  clearest,  jouis- 
sant  human  love ;  for  which  reason  persons  thus  constituted 
must  and  do,  both  of  will,  purpose,  and  absolute  necessity  be- 
sides, not  merely  attract  others  with  a  force  equalling  their  own 
sad  void,  but  also,  as  a  matter  of  mere  vital  magnetic  life  and 
existence,  make  large  and  copious  draughts  upon  each  and 
every  differently  constituted  human  being  with  whom  they  can 
gain  even  an  ephemeral  rapport,  no  matter  what  the  sex,  age, 
race,  or  grade  may  be.  A37,  they  will  even  draw  the  life  of 
animals ;  and  birds,  dogs,  cats,  and  some  plants  actually,  nay, 
frequently,  have  their  death-warrants  signed  and  sealed  through 
such  companionship  !  TVTioever,  whatever,  sentient  thing  stands, 
lies,  sits,  or  moves  with  such,  almost  invariably  feel  a  pleasur- 
able magnetic  thrill,  —  a  sure  indication  that  their  vif  or  life,  their 
love  and  strength,  their  force,  power,  and  even  will,  is  going 
from  them  toward  tbe  strange  fascinator ;  generally  resulting 
in  a  morbid  liking,  an  almost  irresistible  drawing,  mentally  as 
well ;  followed  shortly  by  a  sense  of  exhaustion,  peculiar,  and 
to  them  unaccountable.  They  do  not  dream  that  their  gentle 
tyrant  is  a  ghoul,  with  the  difference  that  these  last  are  fabled 
to  have  fed  on  dead  human  beings,  while  the  former  devour 
living  souls  !  In  this  statement  is  revealed  the  deep  meaning 
lying  behind  the  oriental  and  derivative  Italian  terms,  mal 
occhio,  jettatura,  —  the  evil  eye.  Such  persons  easily  acquire 
masterj-  of  the  affections  of  others  ;  jTet  whoever  yields  to  the 
accursed  spell  slowly  but  surely  perishes,  because  their  love  is 
all  drawn  out  of  them ;  none  whatever  is  returned,  and  when 
the  supply  runs  out,  then  come  madness,  despair,  utter  reftness, 


98  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

and  such  desolation  as  only  quick  souls  can  know  and  languish 
under ;  while  if  confirmed  insanity,  consumption,  and  sudden 
death  do  not  follow,  the  wonder  is  all  the  greater. 

Doubted?  Then  you  have  never  fallen  beneath  the  dreadful 
fascination.  How  can  there  be  life  or  love  without  ebb  and 
flow,  and  if  it  all  runs  from  you  to  fill  a  cormorant  void,  what 
else  can  you  do  but  break  the  spell,  stop  the  flood,  or  lay  you 
down  and  die?  How  can  there  be  happiness,  joy,  health,  with- 
out interchange  ?  and  if  you  give  and  never  get  back,  what  else 
than  a  grave  yawns  immediately  beneath  your  very  feet  ?  How 
many  prematurely  dead  people  owe  the  deep  damnation  of  their 
taking  off,  to  this  one  cause  ?  Millions !  here,  there,  around 
you,  everywhere  ;  and  yet  the  wretches  who  foster  the  state  of 
things  which  father  such  results  dare  to  call  themselves  bene- 
factors of  the  human  race  ;  and  there  are,  doubtless,  thousands 
who  will  read  this  book,  yet  blame  the  author  for  striking  at 
the  wrong  with  sharp  words  and  ungloved  hands.  But  then, 
such  people  have  not  felt  the  steel  in  their  own  hearts ;  have 
not  been  robbed  of  all;  have  not  lost  wife  or  husband  by  the 
foul  thing ;  nor  wept  over  the  green  grave  of  a  beautiful 
daughter  or  promising  son,  brought  there  by  the  system  here  so 
freely  ventilated,  —  and  from  the  spiritualistic  branches  of  it 
too !  Not  that  all  who  believe  that  doctrine  are  amenable  to 
the  charges  here  rammed  home,  but  that  many  —  nearly  all 
whom  the  writer  ever  knew — were,  and  are.  But  the  story  is 
not  yet  fully  told. 

When  two  people  interchange  real  affection,  the  divine  fluid 
element,  whose  presence  in  us  makes  us  noble,  good,  strong,  and 
great,  both  parties  retain  what  they  severally  receive,  and  each 
is  better  for  it  in  every  sense,  in  every  way.  Not  so  in  the 
other  case  ;  for  no  ghouls  can  retain  what  they  rob  others  of. 
They  are  cormorants,  vultures,  with  no  centres  in  them  around 
which  either  the  good  can  gather  and  cluster,  or  the  loves  ciys- 
tallize  and  condense,  or  points  in  their  natures  for  it  to  cling  to 
and  adorn.  They  consume  it  just  as  stomachs  and  lungs  do 
food  and  air.  A  tiger  feeding  on  broiled  beef  and  game  would 
transform  that  beef  and  game  into  ferocity  and  vindictive  energy  ; 


woman;  love,  and  marriage.  99 

so  would  a  tiger  man  ;  whereas  an  artist  or  poet  would  change 
them  into  flowing  verse,  or  beautiful  transcripts  of  nature  ;  and 
just  so  a  true  man  converts  the  love  he  drinks  in,  into  good, 
truth,  beauty,  and  high  resolve  ;  but  the  ghoul  converts  it  into  a 
point  d'appiri,  whence  he  or  she  can  play  their  infernal  enginery 
upon  other  victims,  with  whose  life-force  they  never  were,  and 
never  can  be,  satisfied  or  satiated  except  for  a  time,  like  a 
glutted  wolf,  only  to  return  with  new  appetite  to  the  banquets 
of  blood,  every  one  of  which  is  seasoned  with  salt  tears,  and 
appetized  with  the  dreadful  music  of  breaking  hearts  ! 

Voracious  to  the  last  gasp,  conscienceless  as  an  India-rubber 
doll,  what  care  the}-  for  desolated  hearts  and  homes,  so  long  as 
their  turns  are  served,  and  they  can  find  fools  to  believe  that 
whatever  is,  is  right ;  God  but  a  form  of  electricity ;  morality  an 
idle  dream ;  retributive  justice  a  flimsy  conceit  and  bugbear ; 
and  human  virtue  the  natural  food  of  "Philosophers"  and 
"  Pantarchs." 

Here  rises  an  apparent  paradox,  needing  explanation,  from 
married  life.  Thousands  of  wedded  pairs  to  themselves  and 
others  appear  to  love  each  other,  yet  make  it  a  point  of  their 
lives  to  Lave  other  fountains  whereat  to  slake  their  amatory 
thirst ;  nor  really  think  they  are  doing  wrong.  Wiry?  Because 
something  was  radically  wrong  about  their  parents  for  the  ten 
months  preceding  their  birth ;  hence,  they  are  obtuse  on  all 
points  of  honor  involving  love-matters  ;  they  are  constitution- 
all}-  incapable  of  correct  motives  in  such  directions,  because 
also  incapable  of  true  reasoning  in  that  particular  line.  There's 
a  chronic  morbidity  which  needs  correcting.  And  it  can  be. 
If  the  whole  truth  were  to  be  told,  it  would  be  found  that  mil 
lions  of  wives  and  husbands  have  secretly  gone  to  the  bad,  who 
were  and  are  not  eveu  suspected  of  fallibility  in  that  line  by 
their  mates,  or  any  one  else  ;  and  they  pass  through  life  wholly 
unscathed,  yet  are  generally  the  hardest  persecutors  of  any  poor 
devil  who  was  too  weak  to  resist  temptation,  and  not  smart 
enough  to  avoid  being  caught !  But  these  are  effects ;  causes 
must  be  looked  for  in  another  direction,  and  the  one  underly- 
ing the  above  facts  is,  because  such  persons  can  no  longer  draw 


100  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE. 

from  their  partners  the  peculiar  magnetic  life  they  require  ;  and 
are  rusher]  into  vice  by  the  resistless  impulsion  of  a  bad  bias 
entailed  upon  them  by  progenitors  perhaps  of  a  century  before. 
And  here,  too,  Ave  have  new  reasons  for  the  exercise  of  the 
loftiest  pity  of  the  human  soul,  else  we,  in  our  blindness,  may 
condemn  as  a  sinner  some  poor  victim  of  a  terrible  and  in- 
herited disease,  whose  roots,  penetrating  the  bod}',  are  fast 
anchored  in  the  very  floors  of  the  constitution  and  the  soul 
itself.     "  The  greatest  of  these  is  charity  !  " 

How  very  little  positive  mental  light  there  is  in  the  world, 
after  all !  How  hard  to  see  the  line  connecting  cause  with 
effect ;  and  what  a  deal  of  inane  twaddle  there  is  afloat  con- 
cerning the  loves  of  the  human  being !  Sometimes,  as  these 
pages  were  penned  in  odd  hours  snatched  from  the  thousand 
people  who  throng  to  the  writer's  office  just  to  see  what  an 
author  looks  like,  and  consume  his  precious  hours  to  little 
effect,  save  to  exhaust  his  vitality  hy  force  of  much  gab,  and 
his  patience  by  their  boring,  he  has  been  tempted  to  throw  up 
the  task  in  sheer  despair  of  being  able  to  dispel  even  a  little 
of  the  dense  fog  which  obscures  the  subject  and  involves  love 
itself  in  almost  impenetrable  mist.  However,  the  approval  of 
a  sensible  man  and  woman,  now  and  then,  who  dropped  in  for 
a  friendly  chat,  and  not  to  weary  him  with  platoons  and  squad- 
rons of  unanswerable  questions,  confirmed  his  purpose  to  keep 
on  working  at  the  book.     That's  why  he  did  keep  on. 

Bees,  failing  to  find  hone}',  soon  die.  Ghouls,  failing  to  find 
victims,  exhaust  themselves  and  perish.  But  others,  who  are 
but  partial  vampires,  manage  to  live  on  and  thrive  apace  ;  and 
many  there  be  of  this  latter  class  who  themselves  suspect  it  not. 
The  test  of  the  fact  is  :  If  an  affection  brings  rest  and  satisfaction, 
it  does  not  spring  from  this  second  member  of  the  heart-trine. 
But  suppose  a  person,  on  strict  analysis,  makes  the  discovery 
that  he  or  she  really  belongs  in  this  groove,  this  love-reft  grade 
of  being,  how  can  the  bad  qualit}'  be  overcome,  subdued, 
evanished  from  the  nature  ?  The  reply  is  :  That  when  one  finds 
one's  self  partially  morbid  on  the  application  of  the  test, — 
satisfiedness,  or  unsatisfiedness,  — with  one  love,  then  a  resolute 


JTOiTAX,   LOVE,   ASj.)  MARRIAGE. 


101 


mil,  self-restraint,  the  culture  of  the  higher  and  nobler  elements 
Df  character,  and  perfect  reliance  on  the  Supreme,  are  the  only 
possible  antidotes  for,  and  correctives  of,  the  pestilent  bane. 

Let  us  take  one  more  step  onward  and  downward  in  this 
analysis,  and  question  Nature  and  science  too,  about  the  third 
great  member  of  the  heart-trine,  and  describe  a  class  whose  suf- 
ferings are  acute  beyond  all  mortal  telling,  and  who  are  fit 
subjects  for  even  an  angel's  or  a  seraph's  tears. 

Different,  very  different,  from  the  class  of  persons  just  out  of 
our  mental  crucible,  is  another,  whose  numbers  far  exceed  either 
of  those  already  treated  of,  —  at  least  within  the  pale  of  Cau- 
cassian-Teutonic-Latin  civilization.  But  of  all  lands  they 
abound  on  this  American  soil. 

This  last  class  of  persons  not  only  suffer  untold  misery  here, 
but  probably  are  unhappy  for  long  periods  after  quitting  this 
mortal  frame.  Yet  human  pity  seldom  reaches  them,  because 
human  intellects  do  not  yet,  save  in  rare  instances,  comprehend 
the  nature  of  their  peculiarities  ;  and  instead  of  studying  the 
matter  thoroughly,  society  —  nearly  all  its  members — blindly 
blames  people  for  the  adverse  or  intense  action  of  a  physical, 
mental,  moral,  and  affectional  chemistry,  or  chemico-constitu- 
tional  make-up,  over  which  they  had  and  have  no  control,  any 
more  than  they  do  of  that  lesser  chemistry  which  determines 
the  color  of  eyes  or  hair.  And  yet  not  even  organization  can 
justly  be  pleaded  in  defence  of  any  person  whomsoever,  unless 
that  person  shall  persistently  fight  against  the  bad  tendency, 
and  so  weaken,  if  not  completely  neutralize,  its  effect  upon 
them ;  for  only  in  so  far  forth  as  we  exert  our  force  for  the 
right,  and  against  the  wrong  and  unhealth,  are  we  really  men, 
are  we  really  women  ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  be  either,  in  the 
true,  full  sense,  so  long  as  we  suffer  what  we  know  to  be  an 
evil  to  rule  over  and  govern  our  actions.  One  single  victory 
over  a  bad  impulse  weakens  that  impulse  and  makes  us 
stronger,  and  subsequent  triumphs  far  more  easy  of  achieve- 
ment. Especially  is  this  true  of  all  matters  concerning  the 
affectional  life  of  mankind. 

The  class  already  described,  and  the  one  now  being  treated 


102  WOMAN,   LOVE,  AND   MAIiRIAGE. 

of,  are  precisely  alike  in  one  respect,  and  one  only,  because 
each  is  but  a  human  halfness.  Both  spring  alike  from  the 
bosoms  of  talented  mothers,  highly  developed,  finely  organized, 
of  susceptible  temperament,  and  keen,  emotional  natures;  and 
both  are  graded  and  classed  pre-natally  ;  are  fashioned  well, 
but  not  by  love.  Take  a  woman  of  a  highly  sensitive,  deeply- 
feeling  nature,  and  suppose  her  to  bear  a  child  whose  father  she 
hates,  and  hates  intensely.  But,  mark  }tou,  whereas  in  the  first 
analysis  we  found  the  mother  hating  also  the  office  she  was  ful- 
filling,—  motherhood,  and  its  fruit,  —  the  babe  unborn, — 
take  notice  that  such  is  not  the  case  with  this  second  mother  in 
its  latter  aspects ;  for  she,  unlike  the  other  mother,  does  not 
bring  a  vampire  into  existence,  because  she  does  not  hate  the  babe 
she  is  charged  with  ushering  into  the  great  man-wanting  world. 
She  does  not  perform  her  maternal  task  unwillingly,  however 
she  might  have  shrunk  from  the  initial  steps  and  fearful  risks, 
but  the  step  once  taken,  she  has  no  regrets  on  that  score ;  but 
rather  clings  to  the  consequences,  that  she  may  have  what  all 
beings  are  entitled  to,  —  something  to  love,  and  be  loved  by  in 
return.  She  is  never  reluctant  to  bear  the  ills  resulting  from 
her  condition  ;  nor  does  she  ever  so  far  forget  her  human  duty 
as  to  inwardly  curse  the  innocent  unborn,  as  notoriously  do 
thousands  of  wives  and  mothers  in  the  barbarous  pails  of  the 
earth,  which  are  chiefly  the  great  manufacturing  centres  and 
most  densely  populated  cities  of  the  so-called  civilized  world ! 
This  second  mother  loves  her  coming  son  or  daughter  to  a 
greater  degree  of  intensity,  if  that  be  possible,  than  that  where- 
with she  hates  its  father.  She  clings  to  it  with  a  devotion 
which  leaves  nothing  thereof  for  all  the  world  beside ;  and  she 
pours  into  its  tiny  being  all  the  rich,  ripe  fulness  of  her  entire 
selfhood,  — from  the  base  of  her  physical  being,  to  the  coronet 
of  her  immortal  soul ;  and  it  is  because  such  women  have  borne 
such  children,  that  the  world  has  in  all  ages  had  its  remarkable 
geni ;  angular,  crooked,  eccentric,  passional;  for  there  never  yet 
was  a  very  great  man  who  was  not  weak  in  that  department  of 
his  nature.  If  it  be  said  that  Newton,  whose  fame  was  com- 
plete at  twenty  -four ;  Johnson,  who  was  a  great  bear;  Milton, 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  103 

whose  life  was  vixenized  out  of  him,  or  Humphrey  Dav}-, —  a 
celibate,  —  were  exceptions  to  the  rule,  yet  the  reply  is,  All 
these  men  had  inner  lives  and  experiences ;  and  probably  so 
covered  up  their  amours  as  to  defy  all  prying  eyes  and  laugh  at 
Mrs.  Grundy.  But  we  shall  be  told  that  Randolph  of  Roanoke 
was  a  great  man,  yet  wholly  non-passional.  The  reply  is  the 
fact  resulted  from  pre-natal  malformation,  and  not  from  choice 
or  will.  But  allowing  these  cases  of  genuine  genius  to  be 
exceptional,  they  but  prove  the  rule,  for  wherever  you  can  put 
your  finger  on  one  such,  we  can  point  to  five  hundred  others 
whose  lives  and  experience  demonstrate  the  rule. 

Persons  descended  from  such  mothers  enter  the  world  with 
an  overplus,  a  vast  excess,  of  that  very  quality  whereof  vam- 
piral  persons  are  utterly  destitute.  The  one  has  no  love,  the 
other  is  all  love.  The  former  are  born  sensualists,  the  latter 
born  lovers,  because  their  entire  being,  souls,  spirits,  bodies, 
are  filled  with  it,  and  the  consequence  is  that  no  one  attachment 
is  capable  of  satisfying  them ;  but  their  love  flows  out  every- 
where, to  everybody.  Captivated  now  by  the  short,  then  by  the 
tall,  npw  by  the  refined,  anon  by  the  opposite,  —  nowhere,  now 
there,  —  human  bees  sipping  honey  from  every  flower,  and  not 
seldom  leaving  a  sting  behind,  and  badl}-  stung  at  other  times  ; 
changeable,  ephemeral,  intense,  violent,  are  the}- ;  loving  to 
the  death  this  week,  and  wild  after  new  faces  the  next.  Such 
persons  are  the  geniuses  of  the  world,  the  cometic  people,  who 
bound  at  a  leap  to  the  most  stately  truths  of  being,  and  dash 
off  poems  and  prose  brimful  of  power  and  soul,  with  a  careless 
abandon  and  ease  perfectly  astounding  to  the  slow  pacers  who 
do  not  know  the  secret !  Such  persons  have  been  the  arch-magi 
of  all  times  ;  the  true  seers,  the  strange  delvers  after  mysterious 
things  ;  for,  discontented  with  this  little  earth,  they  have  dared 
to  force  the  portals  of  the  grave  and  wrest  strange  and  mighty 
secrets  from  their  custodians  on  the  farther  shore  ;  and  for  them 
alone  have  the  golden  realms  flung  wide  their  gates  and  laid 
bare  to  daring  e}-es  full  many  of  their  hidden  histories. 

No  man  or  woman  of  them  all  has  ever  been  a  villain,  or 
sunk  to  infamy  and  crime  ;  for  such  beings  forever  move  down 


104  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

life's  pathways  between  two  angels,  —  a  good  and  an  evil  one ; 
the  latter  continually  suggesting  ill,  the  other  always  saving  by 
the  resistless  might  of  the  Hidden  Hand,  —  as  the  writer  of 
these  lines  hath  often  seen  proved. 

Power  is  one  thing,  happiness  another,  and  genius  was  never 
yet  known  to  be  happy.  Joyous,  yes  ;  jubilant,  frequently ;  but 
whenever  it  takes  a  flight  to  heaven  it  is  sure  to  dip  its  wings 
in  hell,  for  it  constantly  oscillates  between  the  two  ex- 
tremes. 

Sensitive  to  the  last  degree,  it  readily  is  impressed  by  others, 
and  accordingly  blows  hot  or  cold  as  impulse  dictates,  whim 
or  fancy  may  determine  ;  all  being  regulated  by  its  surroundings 
and  associations.  But  it  is  ever  true  to  its  central  idea,  what- 
ever that  may  be,  —  music,  art,  the  drama,  sculpture,  poetry, 
oratory,  —  and  is  only  inconsistent  when  measured  by  the  small 
standards  of  those  who  stupidly  stare  at,  talk  about,  scandalize 
and  condemn,  but  can  never  understand  it.  How  can  a  candle 
comprehend  a  comet,  especially  when  contemporaneous  with  it? 
How  and  why  expect  sluggish  souls,  dull,  leaden  brains,  thick, 
cartilaginous,  half  dead,  and  wholly  non-magnetic,  non-electric 
nerves,  understand  the  vivid  lightning,  and  vehement,  fervid 
fire  of  true  and  absolute,  even  if  eccentric  and  unbalanced 
genius,  —  genuine  soul  power?  or  with  tape-line  measure  the 
measureless  flight  of  a  being  who,  pitying  his  earthly  kindred, 
turns  skyward  and  claims  kindred  with  the  Infinite?  —  a  being 
whose  soul  is  surcharged  with  the  intense  white  fire  of  the  im- 
mortal Gods  ?  who  scorns  the  petty  honors  earth  affords,  and 
seeks  communion  only  with  his  equals,  on  earth  or  in  the 
vast  Beyond, — because  his  soul  is  pure,  crystallized  love  !  —  love 
planted  there  by  the  mothers  who  bore  such  beings  to  the  world 
and  G"od  ! 

Mutual  love  between  parents  balances  the  characters  and 
natures  of  their  children  ;  and  such  children  ever  move  above 
the  crowd,  but  never  rush  well-clad  where  genius  delights  to 
roam  barefoot,  naked,  and  alone ;  because  love  lieth  at  the 
foundation,  and  love,  restless,  inspires  its  unrest  and  its  flights. 
Such  persons  almost  invariably  love  children,  plants,  tender 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  105 

animals,  poetry,  music,  art ;  and  are  never  jealous  of  others, 
even  in  their  own  chosen  fields,  for  they  instinctively  know  that 
no  other  human  being  can  possibly  fill  their  own  peculiar 
groove  ;  hence,  whenever  you  hear  a  so-called  "  genius  "  berat- 
ing and  uncharitably  criticising  another,  you  may  take  it  for 
granted  that  their  power  is  not  real ;  and  their  claim  to  its 
possession  but  a  very  pleasant  fiction,  believed  in  by  no  one 
but  their  own  silly  selves !  for  your  true  geni  is  ever  one- 
sided, but  never  a  knave,  poltroon,  defamer,  or  a  coward ! 
But  the  vampire  is  always  a  miserable  creature,  from  an  inborn 
lack  of  genuine  man  or  womanhood. 

A  being  of  the  grade  just  described,  taken  generally,  nearly 
always  carries  a  breaking  heart  in  his  or  her  bosom.  The 
children  of  the  former  class  —  the  vampiral  sort  —  very  often 
reach  the  prison,  brothel,  and  the  scaffold  ;  and  not  from  impul- 
sive criminality,  but  with  prepense  (forethought)  in  their 
career,  for  overt  acts,  against  the  weal  of  man,  of  which  acts 
themselves  alone  are  not  wholly  guilty.  On  the  other  hand  the 
children  of  the  other  class  —  the  true  geni-producers  —  are 
almost  always  tender  buds  who  blossom  into  short,  but  packed 
and  concentrated  lives,  during  every  day  of  which  they  live 
more  and  longer  than  some  others  do  in  a  month  ;  and  then  they 
pass  away  from  earth  to  make  room  for  other  human  beings  of 
a  less  intense  nature,  order,  kind,  character,  and  degree. 

Wiser  than  most  people  on  great  subjects,  perfect  childlings 
on  small,  such  persons,  born  of  such  mothers,  under  such  con- 
ditions,—  that  is,  hating  the  father,  but  loving  his  child,  —  are 
generally  quite  blind  to  the  affairs,  not  merely  of  their  own 
purses,  but  of  their  own  hearts,  because  avarice  is  small,  trust 
in  others  very  large  ;  complete  fools  in  matters  involving  dollars 
and  cents,  they  on  the  other  hand  drink  in  copious  draughts  of 
love  from  space,  and  beauty,  and  art,  the  drama  and  music,  and 
never  hesitate  to  pour  it  out  in  rich  libations  wherever,  to 
whomever,  and  whenever  opportunity  offers.  Their  affections  go 
out  with  reality,  freshness,  fulness,  spontaneity  of  well-wishing 
and  better  doing,  to  all  human  kind  ;  and  being  strongly,  and  in 
very  many  cases  almost  inevitably  drawn  to  those  who  express 


106  WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE. 

by  word  or  look,  tenderness,  friendship,  or  interest  in  their 
welfare ;  measuring  others  by  their  own  generous,  upright, 
trusting,  honest  hearts  and  souls,  are  sure  to  be  misunderstood, 
scandalized,  betrayed,  and  readily  fall  victims  to  the  wiles  of 
people  with  less  than  one-tenth  their  own  amount  of  thinking 
brains  ;  and  are  generally  repaid  for  their  goodness  by  insult, 
mockery,  slander,  and  neglect.  If  a  man,  he  is  always  poor ; 
if  a  woman,  she  is  sure  to  wear  mourning  weeds  from  the  altar 
to  the  cradle,  from  that  to  the  grave ! 

It  was  stated  at  the  outset  of  this  analysis  of  the  heart-trine, 
that,  aside  from  the  central  and  genuine  love,  there  were  two 
other  existences,  both  of  which,  in  many  respects,  resembled 
the  true  and  normal  affection  of  the  human  being.  Both  these 
others  are,  as  has  been  seen,  abnormal,  and  both  abound  in  our 
world  to-day.  The  first  must  be  mainly,  though  not  always, 
looked  for,  in  the  extremes  and  radical  ranks  of  the  age ;  the 
other  can  be  found  any  and  everywhere,  because  marriage  in 
our  day  has  been  so  profaned  that  its  human  products  are 
mainly  one-sided,  angular,  and  wholly  discontented. 

The  root  of  the  whole  matter  of  human  wrong,  in  these  as 
well  as  all  other  respects,  must  be  looked  for  in  the  ofttimes  wil- 
ful ignorance  of  people  generally,  concerning  the  rules  and  laws 
of  nature  which  under ly  and  subtend  not  merely  our  earthly 
existence,  but  our  happiness  or  misery  at  every  beat  of  the 
clock  of  time. 

This  is  a  juvenile  world,  and  most  of  its  inhabitants  are 
exceedingly  young  and  unripe,  not  to  say  absolutely  green ; 
for,  just  like  babes  of  tenderer  growth,  they  push  their  pleas- 
ures be3rond  the  verge  of  constitutional  endurance,  and  then 
gape  and  wonder  at  the  bad  state  of  things,  moral  and  health- 
wise,  which  legitimately  ensue  from,  not  only  their  stupid  dis- 
regard of  the  up-building  laws  and  rules,  but  their  prompt  and 
continuous  obedience  to  their  opposites,  or  the  laws  which  tear 
down,  sap,  disintegrate,  demoralize,  and  finally  destro}7.  Men 
and  women,  as  we  meet  them  in  the  streets  of  the  world,  look 
civilized,  tame,  reasonable ;  and  so  they  are,  outside,  when  in 
public,  but  in  the  dark,  O  Lord !     Could  we  with  our  eyesight 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  107 

penetrate  the  heavy  curtains  at  the  windows,  or  peer  clown 
through  the  slated  roofs,  we  would  behold  sights  and  scenes 
exhibited  and  enacted  by  these  polished  civilizees,  sufficiently 
childish,  ay,  detestable,  sometimes  infamous  and  diabolical,  to 
put  all  the  devils  of  nether  space  into  wild,  fantastic  hell-bursts 
of  demoniac  glee  ;  for  we  should  behold  people  supposed  to  be 
sane  desperately  trying  to  set  fire  to  their  own  bodies  by  con- 
stantly swilling  what  they  knoiv  to  be  rank,  pestiferous  poison  ; 
and  then,  when  duly  fired  up,  exerting  every  energy  of  soul, 
spirit,  body,  mind,  to  speedily  finish  their  mad  careers  by  drain- 
ing themselves  of  every  true  element  of  power,  extinguishing 
every  divine  spark  of  virile  life  and  genuine  man  and  true 
womanhood.  And  yet  this  self-same  civilization  whiningly 
complains  of  the  brevity  of  life,  and  pitifully  growls  out  that 
all  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit.  The  countryman  or 
laborer  envies  the  banker  and  millionnaire,  and  these  latter  pine 
for  the  laborer's  jocund  health,  spirits,  and  digestive  power. 
The  servant-girl  envies  the  courtly  dame  and  mincing  miss, 
and  finding  labor  will  never  carry  her  where  she  wants  to  be, 
takes  the  first  opportunity  of  being  tempted,  by  a  rich  man  ; 
sells  herself,  reaches  the  plains  of  gaudery,  and,  when  too 
late,  finds  out  what  a  simpleton  and  fool  she  has  made  of  her- 
self. Others,  love-starved,  resolve  to  make  reprisals  on  the 
world  at  large ;  and  then  they  make  nests,  out  of  which  come 
whole  broods  of  vampires,  ghouls,  and  every  other  malforma- 
tion of  the  human  soul  and  body. 

You  can't  expect  manhood  of  little  men,  —  little  souls, 
pinched,  starved,  robbed  of  their  birthrights  before  they  were 
born !  nor  can  the  Christian  world  make  things  better  and 
radically  renew  the  vigor  of  the  race,  morally  or  religiously, 
until  it  takes  these  social  and  domestic  vices  by  the  nape  and 
heels  and  hurls  them  out  of  the  windows  of  the  world ;  and  that 
it  can  never  do  by  preaching  as  it  does,  but  only  by  attack- 
ing sin,  not  man ;  and  by  taking  as  continual  texts,  sound 
bodies,  sound  love,  sound  souls,  hence  sound  morals.  True, 
God  himself  is  daily  doing  this  ;  but  then  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
we  ourselves  can  aid  the  good  work.     One  thing  is   certain : 


108  WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

the  jo3Ts  which  come  to  human  beings  through  love  and  virtue, 
infinitely  overtop  and  exceed  those  which  reach  him  on  the 
high-pressure  principles  of  vice  and  excitement.  Every  roue, 
libertine,  prostitute,  gambler,  in  the  wide  world,  who  has  run 
their  race  and  returned  to  virtue  and  the  homeside,  will  tell  3*011 
this  is  true  !  Disobedience  of  natural  law  is  a  bad  investment ; 
excess  is  quite  as  ill ;  perversion  is  worse ;  repression  is 
suicidal,  and  only  restraint  and  temperance  bring  the  pro- 
foundest,  highest  acme  of  social  joy ! 


CHAPTER  VII. 

love's  chemistry. 

People  are  wont  to  laugh  at  what  they  might  at  first  sight 
call  the  ridiculous  idea  that  love  is  in  any  sense  chemical  in  its 
nature,  operations,  or  effects.  But  probabby  they  would  cease 
smiling  upon  discovering  that  other  mental  or  spiritual  emotions 
produce  most  decided  chemical  effects  upon  any  human  being 
subject  thereto.  For  instance,  talking  of  lemons  makes  our 
mouths  water ;  grief  allays  hunger ;  fear  produces  intestinal 
relaxation  ;  doubt  dries  up  the  palate  ;  rage  increases  the  glan- 
dular action  of  the  mouth  ;  jealousy  turns  and  alters  the  entire 
action  of  the  liver,  and  fills  the  whole  body  with  its  green, 
slimy  bile.  Loss  of  confidence,  love,  affection,  immediately 
reacts  upon  the  kidneys,  and  sometimes  so  utterly  changes  them 
that  the  urea  passes  directly  into  the  blood,  and  insanity  is  the 
next  step.  Thus  we  might  go  on  to  the  enumeration  of  hun- 
dreds of  proofs  that  emotion  and  chemical  changes  are  but 
convertible  terms  for  one  and  the  same  thing. 

But,  says  the  caviller,  emotion  is  of  the  soul,  and  if  this  doc- 
trine be  true,  then  its  non-materiality  is  disproved,  and  — 
There,  that  will  do,  for  if  the  soul  exists  at  all,  it  must  have 
form,  size,  dimension;  occupy  space;  be  something!  which  it 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND  MARJtlAGE.  109 

certainly  does  and  is ;  and  there  must  be  a  circulation  of  both 
body  and  soul,  and  a  third  circulation  here  announced  for  the 
first  time,  common  to  each  other  and  both  at  once.  The 
proof  has  just  been  given  ;  for  we  have  seen  how  a  deep-seated 
soul-emotion  must  have  been  conveyed  from  the  crypts  of  being 
to  the  outer  organic  structure,  for  otherwise  it  is  clear  that  no 
effect  could  have  been  produced  upon  the  physical  organism. 
So  much,  in  brief,  for  that  fact ;  now  for  its  application. 

Every  one  of  us  when  in  love  becomes  aware  not  only  of  a 
change  of  both  mental  and  physical  previous  states  ;  but  also 
that  we  are  full  of  a  divine  something  which  was  not  there  be- 
fore ;  that  this  something,  like  an  electric  thrill,  passes  all  over 
and  through  us,  sending  the  hot  blood  to  the  brow  and  cheek  ; 
two  kinds  of  tears  —  joyous  and  not  so  —  to  our  eyes,  forcing 
the  red  tide  back  to  its  heart-fountains,  and  blanching  us  white 
as  snow ;  thrilling  us  with  strange  preternatural  strength  and 
force,  and  rendering  us  weak  and  helpless  in  a  single  moment's 
time.  We  also  know  how,  when  it  is  sapped  from  us,  we  be- 
come exhausted  and  quite  beaten  out,  and  we  know  also  that 
extreme  hunger  is  capable  of  destroying  even  a  mother's  love ; 
for  such  have  been  known  to  resort  to  cannibalism  in  famines,  — 
their  own  flesh  and  blood  affording  the  victims. 

If  love  and  passion,  beside  being  metaphysically  emotional, 
be  not  also  in  some  sense  material  and  chemical,  why  and  how 
is  it  that  the  glance  of  an  eye  will  utterly  transform,  not  merely 
a  man's  whole  nature,  but  his  appearance  in  others'  eyes? 
And  yet  these  self-same  identical  appeai'ances  and  effects  follow 
the  adminstration  of  certain  drugs  and  gases,  and  by  unmis- 
takable chemical  agencies  simulate  all  that  is  accomplished 
through  other  means  in  their  absence,  but  in  the  presence  of  meta- 
physical motives  and  impulsions  altogether !  Now  there  are 
certain  nervous  ganglia  in  every  human  being,  whose  office  it 
is  to  extract  from  all  that  enters  into  the  human  economy 
certain  vital  essences  akin  to  electricity,  magnetism,  and  nerve- 
aura,  but  which  yet  are  not  identical  with  either  of  the  three ; 
and  under  certain  excitements  this  peculiar  fluid-power,  this 
white-fire  of  the  human  being,  rushes  from  its  cells  and  crypts 


110  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND  MARRIAGE. 

through  the  body  like  t3Tphoons  on  the  sand}'  sea  of  sun-parched 
Zahara.  If  the  rush  be  toward  the  amatory  organization  of 
the  individual,  generally,  including  head,  heart  and  passione, 
there's  no  harm  done ;  for  it  is  under  such  triplicate  proper 
conditions  that  the  loftiest  interests  of  parentage  find  their 
truest  scope  and  interests,  save  of  course  where  the  inflammatory 
state  becomes  chronic,  in  which  case  disasters  threaten  on  every 
side ;  but  when  these  results  are  tidal,  periodic,  orbital,  the 
expression  of  the  grand  diastolic  and  systolic  law,  harmony 
follows  and  happiness  is  conserved. 

If  this  tide  flows  entirely  to  the  head,  lungs,  and  heart,  our 
mentality  is  at  high  flood,  and  we  are  capable  of  lofty  thought, 
noble,  daring,  grand,  and  magnificent  heroic  action.  If  it 
wholly  deserts  our  brain,  lungs,  heart,  and  does  not  stop  at  the 
generative  centres,  we  become  craven  cowards,  weak-legged, 
pitiful,  and  paralytic. 

In  these  days  persons  of  both  genders  abound  who  are  so 
badly  organized  that  at  the  slightest  provocative  all  the  hidden 
forces  named  come  to  the  surface,  and  in  a  brief  period  sur- 
round them  with  an  atmosphere  which  whosoever  breathes, 
even  for  a  very  brief  period  of  time,  forthwith  becomes  tinctured, 
poisoned,  contaminated  with  the  dreadful,  fiery  exuvia ;  and  as 
at  present  it  is  fashionable  to  call  things  by  fine  and  fancy 
names,  this  sort  of  devilism  is  styled  "Passional  attraction;  " 
is  said  to  be  a  positive  proof  of  fitness  and  fineness  of  soul,  and  is 
hailed  as  demonstrative  of  superior  organization  on  the  part  of 
attractor  and  attractee  ;  when  in  fact  it  is  as  deadly  a  moral 
and  magnetic  poison  as  would  be  strychnine  disguised  in  a 
delicious  Persian  sherbet ;  and  whosoever  shall  be  so  unfor- 
tunate as  to  contact  such  affectionally  diseased  persons  need 
not  be  surprised  to  find  all  the  apocalyptic  plagues  following  as 
a  consequence.  Even  a  normal  love  is  liable  to  fevers,  chills, 
disease,  by  reason  of  unsound  body,  brain,  nerves,  and  vitiated 
blood ;  for  pure  white  milk  cannot  unsullied  flow  through  con- 
duits of  foul  black  substance.  True,  it  will  still  be  milk,  and  love 
will  yet  be  love,  but  neither  of  the  fluids  can  be  sweet  and  clean. 

Now  of  all  things  that  tend  to  lower  the  tone  and  standard 


WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND    MARRIAGE.  Ill 

of  affection,  excitements  are  the  worst,  because  they  vitiate  the 
body  and  injure  the  mechanism  of  the  mind,  hence  are  ruinous 
to  life,  therefore  destructive  of  love.  It  is  folly  to  think  that 
any  outer  treatment  alone  can  cure  a  person  of  any  form  of 
disease  whose  roots  lie  buried  in  a  disturbed  mind  or  diseased 
affection,  —  and  to  such  causes  are  attributable  four-fifths  of  the 
diseases  of  Christendom, —  unless  the  will  and  moral  nature  are 
first  brought  right. 

To  expect  to  make  a  sick  man  or  woman  well,  whose  ail- 
ments spring  from  overtaxed  minds,  or  disturbed  affection,  the 
effect  of  which  is  to  paralyze  or  otherwise  disease  the  delicate 
organs,  nervous  papillae,  and  ganglia,  whose  office  and  function 
is  the  evolution  of  that  divine  nerve-aura  alluded  to  before,  — 
the  physical  love,  itself  the  vehicle  of  soul  love,  —  is  to  expect 
water  to  voluntarily  run  up-hill.  The  age  of  miracles  is  not 
past,  certainly,  yet  the  day  of  that  particular  sort  went  by  long 
ago.  Virtue  is  its  own  reward ;  but  the  word  does  not  mean 
physical  chastity,  but  human  strength,  soul-power  to  resist 
attacks  from  within,  not  merely  those  from  without ;  and 
especially  those  which  beset  us  on  our  loving  side. 

A  violation  of  our  own  self-hood  is  the  worst  form  of  rape ; 
because  no  victim  of  another  is  held  responsible  for  violence 
offered  and  accomplished,  except  wherein  that  "  victim "  of 
free-will  made  the  conditions  of  the  outrage  possible  ;  in  which 
case  the  guilt  must  be  divided  ;  for  the  temptation  may  have 
been  the  promoter  of  the  crime !  But  whosoever  takes  good 
care  to  resist  all  morbid  action  in  and  of  themselves  is  truly 
virtuous,  or  strong,  because  sensible  that  wilful  neglect  of 
common-sense  precautions  exposes  them  to  magnetic  and 
affectional  waste  and  suffering ;  and  if  the  elements  of  life  be 
wasted,  the  economy  cannot  possibly  expand  and  grow  ;  and 
therefore  the  essential  man  or  woman  —  the  soul  and  spirit 
itself — must  become  dwarfed  and  warped,  because  it  is  of  the 
surplusage  of  this  fine  aura  the  intellectual  human  principle 
fashions  and  elaborates  its  superphysical  investiture,  its  real, 
but  incorporeal,  immortal  body  ;  and  if  in  life,  and  strength, 
and  youth,  we  throw  away  the  elements,  —  the  bricks,  so  to 


112  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND    MAURIAOE. 

speak,  —  wherewith  shall  that  body  be  upbuilt  ?  This  is  a  serious 
and  solemn  point  for  consideration,  and  at  once  shows  the 
absolute  necessity  of  avoiding  not  only  excess  and  baleful 
counterfeits,  personally  and  in  association,  but  also  of  so 
strengthening  our  souls  and  bodies  too,  as  to  be  wholly  invul- 
nerable either  to  vampiral  attacks,  or  amatory  temptations, 
come  in  whatsoever  form  or  guise  they  may.  Of  course  the 
advocates  of  perpetual  celibacy  will  affirm  that  if  a  great  deal 
kills,  less  will  injure  ;  forgetful  that  either  sex  is  but  a  halfness, 
and  that  reciprocation  and  mutual  interchange  is  the  secret  of 
perpetual  peace  and  harmony,  in  that  and  every  other  possible 
relation  in  the  universe,  so  far  as  we  know  it.  They  forget 
that  any  power  non-used  brings  as  great  a  load  of  misery  and 
punishment,  though  of  diverse  kinds,  as  does  its  exact  opposite, 
and  that  though  repletion  is  bad,  inanition  is  equally  so. 

In  essaying  an  analysis  of  the  two  sexes,  a  good  Methodist 
brother  in  meeting  declared  that  woman  was  just  like  man, 
with  a  little  variation  ;  whereupon  a  good  deacon  clapped  his 
nands  and  shouted,  "Thank  God  for  the  variation  ! "  and  the 
whole  male  audience  cried  out  "  Amen  !  "  and  the  sisters  re- 
marked "  Te,  he  !  "  It  is  a  common  mistake,  and  a  bad  one,  to 
place  the  sexes  on  a  par  or  equality  in  any  but  three  general 
senses,  —  affection,  intelligence,  immortality  ;  for  in  all  minor 
points  they  are  as  widely  different  as  south  from  east. 

In  all  matters  directly  or  obliquely  pertaining  to  the  love- 
nature  woman  is  not  only  more  one-sided,  but  far  more  cruel 
than  man,  and  as  a  dissembler  of  love  can  give  him  heavy  odds 
and  beat  him  out  of  sight ;  so  skilful  can  a  woman  become  in 
this  respect,  that  she  is  capable  of  deceiving  the  sharpest  man 
alive,  and  make  him  believe,  and  ready  to  swear  to  it,  that  she 
loves  him  to  the  borders  of  idolatry,  when  in  fact  she  don't 
care  a  straw  for,  and  just  as  like  as  not  uses  him  for  her  own 
ends,  and  laughs  at  him  in  her  sleeve.  No  man  can  break 
from  a  woman  without  a  pang  ;  but  a  woman  will  part  from  him, 
her  love-kiss  warm  on  his  lips,  and  without  a  word  of  notice 
abandon   him   forever.     A   sphinx?    A   riddle?    An  enigma? 


WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  113 

Ay,  Gocl  never  made  so  great  a  one  as  Woman,  who  is  at 
once  tenderer  than  a  new-born  babe,  and  tough  and  cruel  as  a 
tigress  at  the  same  time.  A  woman  can  nearly  always  tell 
when  a  man  loves  her,  but  he's  a  wise  being  who  can  take  his 
Bible  oath  that  a  given  love  of  any  given  woman  is  the  genuine 
or  simulated.  Hence  men  have  but  one  test  of  the  reality  of  a 
woman's  love,  —  if  she  sticks  in  the  dark  hour,  she  is  true.  Yet 
nothing  but  the  dark  hour  can  prove  it ! 

She  has  not  proved  herself  capable  of  fairly  reasoning  and 
deciding  justly.  She  always  mixes  her  feelings  and  prejudices 
with  the  results  of  her  judgment,  and  never  yet  gave  a  genuinely 
honest  verdict.  If  her  cool  judgment  weighs  ten  pounds,  and 
there  be  one  single  ounce  of  feeling,  judgment  and  justice  are 
sure  to  kick  the  beam  ;  for  a  woman  can  no  more  divide  a  char- 
acter, and  attribute  credit  to  its  fair  side,  if  there  be  one  single 
tiny  speck  against  which  she  feels,  than  she  can  radically  change 
her  sex  ;  she  is  far  less  generous  than  man,  and  is  the  bitterest 
of  all  foes  against  her  own  sex.  No  matter  how  finely  she  may 
declaim  in  public  on  the  wrongs  and  the  horror  of  intolerance 
and  the  virtue  of  forgiveness,  the  cases  are  very  rare  in  which 
she  exercises  practical  charit}'  and  forbearance  or  the  pardon 
principle  wherever  her  feelings  are  engaged  against  the  offender. 
While,  as  for  the  self-elected  women's  rights'  leaders,  their  love 
for  the  poor  ranks,  for  the  sewing-girl  and  cast-away,  is  really 
all  bosh ;  for  not  one  of  them  would  lend  a  helping  hand,  unless 
the  act  was  sure  to  get  into  the  papers  next  day. 

People,  the  masses,  have  yet  to  learn  that  in  these  days  phi- 
lanthropy is  a  trade,  followed  so  long,  and  only  so  long,  as  it 
will  pay.  Another  thing  to  be  learned  is  that  there  are  some 
things  a  woman  never  forgets,  and  more  things  a  woman 
never  forgives.     Think  of  that ! 

One  of  the  opposite  sex,  no  matter  how  barbarous  he  may 
be,  will  be  able  to  find  many  good  points  about  even  his  foe, 
give  him  credit  therefor,  and  vent  his  indignation  upon  the  bad 
side  only ;  but  a  woman  never  does  this,  and  one  little  blemish 
in  a  character  is  seen  by  her  to  over-bulk  and  over-freight  a 
whole  continent  of  good  qualities.     The  writer  once  knew  a 


114  WOMAX,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

woman  in  Massachusetts,  who  deliberately  tried  to  ruin  the  best 
friend  of  her  life,  and  one,  too,  with  a  thousand  good  qualities, 
of  all  of  which  she  was  well  apprised,  —  and  there  are  thousands 
more  just  like  her,  —  simply  because  his  nature  could  not  be  en- 
tirely subdued  by  her  blandishments.  She  could  not  bear  that 
he  should  have  or  express  affection  for  any  one  but  herself,  old 
or  young,  male  or  female  ;  and  finally  she  became  jealous  of  the 
Deity,  and  cursed  the  man  because  in  his  prayers  he  exhibited 
greater  confidence  in  the  Almighty  than  he  did  toward  her. 
And  yet  that  very  woman  was  a  flirt,  and  took  it  very  hard  when 
expostulated  with  on  the  subject.  But,  these  two  faults  aside, 
a  better  woman  than  "Kitty  of  the  West"  never  drew  the 
breath  of  life. 

This  morbid  approbative  selfishness  is  the  bane  of  many  a 
household,  and  the  grim  squelette  in  many  a  closet.  It  were 
well  if  wives,  and  those  expecting  to  become  such,  would  ask 
themselves,  Is  it  right?  and  forthwith  correct  an  altogether  too 
common  evil ;  not  that  any  female  should  cease  to  crave  and 
expect  homage,  —  which  every  gallant  and  true  man  is  but  too 
glad  to  pay,  —  but  that  the  demand  should  not  be  so  broad  as 
to  exclude  all  the  world  except  her  own  sweet  self;  for  men 
will  kick  against  tyraniry,  and  are  very  apt  to  even  undervalue 
the  woman's  really  good  qualities  who  so  far  forgets  her  duty 
to  herself  and  him  as  to  often  try  it  on. 

A  woman  finds  it  hard  to  tolerate  worship,  love  adoration  of 
anything  or  any  one  except  her  children  and  herself.  But 
those  who  blame  her  for  this  are  harsh  and  hasty  in  their 
judgment,  because  a  woman  is  love  incarnate,  and  when  she 
fails  to  obtain  that,  her  failure  is  complete  and  total ;  for  what 
were  all  the  world  to  her,  what  honor,  place,  beauty,  —  any- 
thing, everything,  —  without  the  one  grand  desideratum  of  her 
nature,  —  love,  whole  love,  right  straight  toward  her,  and  her 
only ;  and  an  object  to  reciprocate  that  love  and  send  its 
counter  tides  of  thrilling  jubilance  to  the  vast  receptacles  of  her 
peerless  spirit  ?  Nothing !  Give  her  but  that,  and  you  may 
take  all  the  world  beside.  For  in  the  glorious  light  thus 
thrown  on  her  it  is  seen  why  even  her  intolerance  is  a  part  of 


WOMAN,    LOrE,    AND    ATA  Mil  AGE.  115 

her  very  being,  and  a  hand  pointing  the  way  to  the  vast  realms 
of  joy  lying  on  the  table-lands  of  love's  grand  domain  !  Men 
have  a  thousand  means  of  dividing  their  life  and  life's  attention. 
Not  so  women  ;  because  there  are  but  two,  —  and  both  are 
loves,  —  maternal  and  conjugal.  Hence,  while  the  former  in 
their  estimate  of  a  person  are  able  to  discriminate  between 
opposite  points  of  character  in  another,  and  do  justice  to  both, 
woman,  on  the  contrary,  if  she  finds  one  dark  spot,  is  sure  to 
magnify  it  till  the  little  speck  becomes  a  huge  black  blotch, 
an  inky  cloud,  totally  obscuring  every  light  spot  or  brilliant  or 
good  quality  in  the  individual.  If  a  man,  however  good,  and 
however  long  his  goodness  may  have  lasted,  commits  a  faux 
pas,  bursts  out  in  anger,  says  one  harsh  or  thoughtless  thing 
offensive  to  the  Amour  Pkopre  or  amour  du  sex,  to  coin  a 
phrase,  she  can  never  forgive  it,  but  will  eternally  pit  that 
single  error,  defect,  or  action,  against  the  combined  excellences 
of  a  life's  devotion.  It  is  an  ever-present  memory,  ready  to  be 
paraded  at  all  times,  and  brought  up  against  the  unfortunate 
when  he  least  expects  it.  This  is  here  presented  to  teach  men 
to  beware  of  the  first  false  step  toward  fracturing  in  a  woman's 
nature  what  can  never  be  repaired.  Many  things  a  woman 
can,  will,  and  does  forgive,  but  never  a  preference  of  a  rival 
against  herself.  She  may  be  convinced  that  a  man  loves  her, 
but  never  afterward  gets  rid  of  the  unrest  occasioned  by  even  an 
apparent  estrayal.  This,  too,  is  why  she  is  so  utterly  pitiless, 
cruel,  and  merciless  toward  her  own  sex.  If  she  loves,  she  that 
moment  becomes  blinded  to  all  the  defects  of  the  loved  one, 
except  admiration  for  another  woman  !  Intellectually  she  is  by 
nature  and  culture  irrational,  unjust ;  but  affectionalry,  emotion- 
all}-,  devotionally,  presents  the  most  surprising  antithetical 
peculiarities  ;  so  that  the  person  loved  to-day  will  continue  to 
be  loved  with  a  fervency  quite  astonishing  so  long  as  she  be- 
lieves herself  alone  beloved  ;  but  the  very  instant  she  convinces 
herself,  even  by  the  absurdest  of  logic,  that  that  person  is 
recreant,  then  she  becomes  stone-blind  to  all  his  good  points 
and  advantages  ;  and  she  despises,  hates,  abhors  him  with  an 
extreme   unction,  and   keen,   incisive   vehemence,  wholly  un- 


116  WOMAN,   LOVE,  AND  MARRIAGE. 

known  to  most  mankind,  and  only  partly  appreciable  by  men 
of  feminine,  psychical  make-up.  Now  it  is  not  so  with  a  man  ; 
for  his  love,  once  fairly  kindled,  survives  nearly  all  shocks, 
and  he  will  take  her  back  even  from  the  slums  to  whose  foul 
cesspools  she  may  have  fallen  ;  and  forgive  her,  too,  when  taken 
back  ;  and  in  this  respect  there  is  no  question  of  man's  superi- 
ority, —  that  is,  in  the  endurability  of  a  genuine  love,  and  its 
surmountability  of  offences  against  itself. 

"  False  one,  I  love  thee  still !  "  rnajr  often  be  said  by  a  woman, 
but  is  far  oftener  meant  by  a  man !  It  is  possible  for  a  woman 
to  survive  a  real  affection,  but  the  man  never  lived  whose  heart 
became  wholly  steeled  against  the  woman  —  whatever  her  sins 
may  have  been  —  who  first  taught  his  soul  to  languish  beneath 
the  delicious,  delirious,  exquisite  spell  of  actual  love  ! 

But  there  is  one  very  strange  mystery,  too  deep  for  present 
solution ;  which  is,  that  obstructed  love  destroys  more  women 
non-possessed,  than  it  does  femmes  convert,  or  after  actual  mar- 
riage ;  while  more  men  fall  and  perish  from  it  subsequent  to 
that  event  in  the  ratio  of  seven  to  one,  statistically ! 

Happiness  and  misery,  joy  and  sorrow,  bliss  and  agony,  ever 
and  always  go  hand  in  hand,  and  the  most  glowing  pleasure  of 
life  floats  in  a  sea  of  anguish.  The  old  French  fable  says  —  and 
oh,  how  truly !  —  that  one  sunny  day.  Love  and  Death  set  forth 
on  their  travels,  each  with  his  quiver  full  and  bow  strung,  pre- 
pared to  strike.  "When  night  came,  they  threw  their  bows  and 
quivers  carelessly  down,  and  fell  asleep  beneath  a  tall  tree. 
The  next  morning,  when  they  awoke,  the  wind  blew  cold  ;  alas, 
in  their  haste,  Death  snatched  up  some  of  Cupid's  darts,  and 
Cupid  some  of  Death's  missiles.  Ever  since  that  fatal  day 
Death  sometimes  aims  at  a  wrinkled,  care-worn  old  man,  and 
his  arrow  bears  not  death,  but  love  and  life.  Whenever  Cupid 
hears  the  prayers  of  mortals  he  strikes,  and  sometimes  the 
shafts  of  love  bear  with  them  death. 

And  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning  :  — 

"  The  little  birds  sing  east, 
And  the  little  birds  sing  west,  — 
Toll  slowly ! 


woman;  love,  and  marriage.  117 

And  I  said  in  under-breath, 
All  our  life  is  mixed  with  death, 
And  who  knoweth  which  is  best? 

And  the  little  birds  sing  east, 
And  the  little  birds  sing  west,  — 
Toll  slowly ! 

And  I  pause  to  think  God's  greatness 
Flows  around  our  incompleteness ; 
Round  our  restlessness  his  rest." 

"Were  it  not  so,  love  and  all  things  else  would  be  a  human 
scourge  and  our  greatest  possible  foe.  Let  us  be  thankful  that 
it  is  our  discipline  and  salvation. 

There  is  a  very  singular,  and  quite  appallingly  curious  cir- 
cumstance attendant  upon  a  very  great  number  of  marriages  in 
America,  but  notoriously  of  the  east  and  north, — but  which 
is  almost  if  not  entirely  unknown  in  any  other  land  on  the 
habitable  globe,  — which  is  that  a  bride's  love  often  comes  to  a 
sudden  and  resurrectionless  death  within  a  very  few  hours  after 
the  verbal  ceremony  has  been  —  mumbled  over.  The  bridge 
of  marriage  looks  long  and  fair,  but  no  sooner  does  she  enter 
one  of  its  dark  arches,  than  her  dream  is  dispelled,  and  for- 
ever. Then  begins  a  reaction  from  the  revulsion,  whose  final 
fruits  are  loathing ;  and  the  divorce  court,  apothecary  shop, 
or  the  brothel  tells  the  balance  of  the  story. 

It  is  equally  certain  that  a  woman  becomes  infinitely  dearer 
to  the  man  who  loves  her  under  precisely  similar  circumstances  ; 
and  it  may  be  set  down  as  a  truth  incontrovertible,  that  whenever 
or  wherever  a  woman  becomes  less  dear  to  a  man  after  she  has 
yielded  all  a  woman  can,  but  who  turns  from  her,  or  repels 
her  caresses,  the  thing  is  infatuation,  passion,  vanity,  egotism  — 
anj'thing,  everything,  but  never  love;  and  to  use  that  holy 
term  in  such  a  connection  is  a  profanation  and  blasphemy ! 
Here  then  is  a  test  of  easy  but  absolute  certainty,  applicable  by 
any  one  of  either  gender.  But,  and  let  this  never  be  forgotten, 
such  tests  are    always  inapplicable  in  the  ill  health,  moody, 


118  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE. 

capricious  seasons  of  the  tender  sex,  at  which  times  that  and  all 
other  rules  and  laws  are  suspended  by  more  than  a  two-thirds 
rule  in  her  behalf.  To  be  certain  of  never  making  mistakes 
there  is  but  one  thing  necessary  on  the  part  of  any  one  what- 
ever, and  that  is  to  alwa}Ts  be  good  and  true,  for  goodness  alone 
is  power,  in  spite  of  old  Bacon's  adage  that  knowledge  only 
constitutes  it.  Knowledge  may  and  does  strengthen  one  ;  but 
force  or  strength  is  a  very  different  thing  from  wisdom  and 
power ;  and  this  is  here  asserted  confidently  in  the  teeth  of  the 
sciolists  of  the  day,  Buckle  and  all  the  other  philosophers  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding.  The  most  knowing  men  are  the 
greatest  bankers,  soldiers,  merchants,  theorists ;  and  the  most 
heartful  men  are  the  greatest  benefactors  of  mankind.  Contrast 
the  loving,  feeling,  heartful  Jesus,  with  the  headful,  brainy 
Plato,  Zeno,  Aristotle,  Bacon ;  or  the  good  Wesley,  with  the 
scholarly  Swedenborg ;  or  measure  the  life-work  of  a  country 
parson  with  the  brilliant  brainisms  of  airv  metropolitan,  classi- 
cal, gilt-edged  expounder  of  super-eruditionary  capacity,  full  to 
the  lips  of  logical  points,  sequences  and  corollaries,  but  with  a 
heart -as  empty  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  blessed  religion  as  a 
last  year's  bird's-nest  is  of  fresh  laid  eggs  at  Christmas  —  up 
north. 

People  of  mere  brain-power  ride  their  hobbies  roughshod  over 
the  peoples  and  the  world.  People  of  heart-power  conserve 
that  world's  best  interests,  and  in  them  only  are  its  best  hopes 
anchored.  Woman  all  head,  intellectual  amazons,  new-right- 
ites,  are  to  the  really  feeling  and  thoughtful  a  sad  spectacle 
indeed.  Not  a  single  womanly  glance  irradiates  their  features, 
cr  a  tender  thought  inspires  their-utterances.  Never  a  gentle, 
sweet  emotion  beams  from  their  faces,  or  a  warm,  feminine 
feeling  lights  up  their  eyes,  —  eyes  so  cold  they  freeze  jrou ; 
marble  women,  with  granite  hearts  and  cast-steel  souls,  inca- 
pable of  making  a  man  happy,  or  gladdening  the  homeside ; 
females  without  femininity,  sexed,  but  only  in  appearance, 
eternally  babbling  frothy  nothings  about  love  which  they  prac- 
tically know  nothing  of!  God  help  that  unfortunate  wight 
whose  temporary  insanity  may  have  led  him  to  commit  an  unpar- 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE.  119 

donable  sin  by  leading  one  of  them  to  the  altar,  in  the  vain 
hope  of  making  her  a  wife !  Wife !  great  Heaven !  what  a 
burlesque  on  the  sacred  name  !  For  a  man  might  just  as  soon 
expect  a  painted  tree  to  bear  fruit,  as  that  such  a  being  is 
capable  of  wifehood,  in  any  single  one  of  its  myriad  phases, 
offices,  or  divine  meanings.  Divine  !  No  —  merely  human,  for 
they  never  reach  that  solid  plane,  by  reason  of  their  brainy 
surplusage  of  "  ideas,  polarities,  primary  and  secondary  sub- 
jects, mathematical  halves,  circulating  phenomena,  quantita- 
tive limitations,  circumferatory  generative  spheres,  compen- 
satory integrants,  projected  dynamic  conditional  existeae, 
initial  and  subtending,  cotangential,  parabolic  (diabolic), 
dividential,  harmoniacal,  centrifugated,  centripitalized,  personal 
circumstantial  compatibilities,"  —  usque  ad  nauseam !  Give  us 
true  womanhood ;  let  the  rest  go  to  Jericho,  or  anywhere  else, 
so  long  as  we  get  rid  of  the  perpetual,  impractical,  radical  ding- 
dong,  wherewith  our  ears  have  been  stunned  ever  since  the 
early  days  wherein  the  Hutchinsons  began  to  whine  about  the 
good  time  coming !  which  hasn't  got  along  yet,  and  never  will 
until  it  has  better  means  of  getting  here  than  all  radicalism 
combined  affords. 

Life  and  love  are  each  full  of  modes,  phases,  grooves, 
aspects  and  moods,  and  all  of  them  are  mysteries,  never  wholly 
solvable  by  the  intellect,  but  only,  if  ever,  by  the  human  heart ; 
and  yet  they  are  both  the  subjects  of  chemical  law,  for  it  is 
demonstrable  that  a  very  slight  change  will  so  turn  a  man's, 
but  especially  a  woman's,  nature,  as  to  make  her  loathe  what  a 
day  before  she    doted  on  and  adored. 

When  a  man  turns  against  another,  the  change  is  gradual, 
never  volcanic  or  sudden ;  not  so  with  a  woman ;  for  she  can, 
will,  and  does,  change  in  a  great  deal  less  than  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye,  or  of  two  eyes ;  and  it  is  not  an  uncommon  thing 
for  a  woman  to  bitterly  hate  the  man,  for  whom  less  than  five 
minutes  before  she  would  have  freely  perilled  life  and  limb.  In 
that  mysterious  moment  something  — what?  —  has  taken  place  ; 
love  has  been  ousted  never  to  return ;  and  the  woman's  entire 


120  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

character  has  undergone  a  complete  and  radical  upheaval  and 
overturning.  Thenceforth  she  never  is  to  him,  herself,  or  any 
one  else,  what  she  was  before.  Talk  of  photographic-plates 
being  sensitive.  Pshaw !  a  woman,  at  times,  is  ten  thousand- 
fold more  so  than  the  most  delicate  glass  ever  yet  manipulated. 

Therefore  the  wise  man  who  has  a  woman  under  the  tribute 
of  affection  must  look  sharp,  else  he  may  mar  his  happiness  in 
a  second  of  time. 

And  now  another  paradox  of  the  wonderful  sphinx.  There 
is  many  a  woman  whom  hardly  anything  on  earth  will  change 
in  the  slightest  degree  ;  yet  that  self-same  woman,  under  differ- 
ent circumstances,  will  transform  from  angel  to  devil  in  less 
time  than  a  rapid  penman  could  indite  the  words. 

All  this  is  chemistry,  and  that,  too,  of  the  most  subtile  kind. 

The  grandest  oration  ever  delivered  could  have  been  made  to 
terminate  in  lugubrious  bathos  by  a  very  few  drops  of  Croton 
oil ;  and  the  greatest  hero  the  world  ever  saw  will  quit  the 
heroics  suddenly,  when  impelled  thereto  bjr  a  few  grains  of 
tartar  emetic ;  and  even  a  person  with  suicidal  thoughts  intent 
will  experience  a  sudden  and  pej'during  change  by  the  persua- 
sive power  of  a  spoonful  of  lobelia  :  while  all  human  experience 
demonstrates  that  happiness  and  misery  alike  depend  quite  as 
much  upon  physical  and  chemical  states  as  they  do  on  more 
mystical  causes.  Very  slight  chemical  changes  in  a  person's 
body,  whether  produced  by  matter  in  any  of  its  subtle  forms, 
or  whether  they  result  from  emotional  reactions,  are  competent 
to  entirely  alter  the  aspect  of  a  whole  life,  and  determine  the 
grooves  of  a  human  career.  Contemporaneous  history  proves 
this  on  a  very  vast  scale ;  the  entire  chain  being  thus :  I. 
Isabella  of  Spain,  by  injudicious  feeding,  became  affectionally 
deranged.  II.  That  derangement  was  beyond  the  power  of  her 
husband,  the  king-consort,  to  remedy.  III.  There  thus  was 
engendered  in  her  nature  a  morbid  want,  sufficiently  energetic 
to  cause  a  desire  to  forget  both  her  dignity  and  wifehood ;  and 
under  its  devilish  impulsion  she  cast  about  her  for  an  object 
upon  whom  to  place  her  diseased  affection.  That  object  she 
found  in  Marfori,  an  ordinary  soldier  in  the  ranks,  —  so  goes 


womax,  love,  and  marriage.  121 

the  tale, — and  the  inspiring  idea  of  Offenbach's  "  Fritz,"  in 
his  Opera  Bouffe,  "The  Grand  Duchess  of  Geroldstein." 
Isabella  raised  Marfori  from  his  subalternship  to  the  rank  of 
Grandee  of  Spain,  and  Queen's  favorite,  thereby  offending  the 
pride  and  blood  of  Ajragon  and  Castile,  the  arrogant  dignity 
of  the  Hidalgos  and  the  Cid,  and  laid,  with  her  own  hands,  the 
fatal  train  whose  explosion  shattered  two  of  the  proudest  mon- 
archies of  earth,  —  France  and  Spain,  —  raised  a  third-rate 
power  of  Europe  to  the  first  rank  and  leading  position  of 
States, — Prussia, — disrupted  the  Roman  Church,  shattered 
the  Papacy,  devastated  a  dozen  nations,  spread  havoc  through 
the  world,  and  changed  the  fate  of  empires,  affecting  the  very 
bases  of  civilization  itself. 

Step  No.  P7.  witnessed  her  dethronement  and  contemptuous 
flight  to  Paris,  —  itself  steaming  with  moral  filth  and  corrup- 
tion, and  ready  at  a  touch  to  burst  forth  in  self-consuming  fire 
and  flame.  Step  V.  was  the  attempt  to  enthrone  a  Hohen- 
zollern  in  her  stead ;  and  the  awful  war  that  followed  that 
attempt,  culminating  in  Sedan  and  a  series  of  compound  disas- 
ters to  all  concerned,  including  the  silly  woman,  Isabella,  and 
the  miserable  fool,  Marfori,  the  whole  culminating  in  a  still 
more  dreadful,  because  fratricidal,  civil  war.  The  end  is  not 
yet,  for  out  of  all  this  trouble  will  yet  spring  greater  ones, 
involving  the  slaughter  of  myriads,  the  overturning  of  other 
dynasties,  the  abrogation,  finally,  of  kingship  the  wide  world 
over ;  the  installation  of  his  majesty,  The  People,  on  the  throne 
of  the  earth,  and  the  beginning  of  the  better  end.  All  spring- 
ing—  these  tremendous  effects,  the  last  being  God's  part 
direct  in  the  vast  drama !  not  man's  —  from  a  disorderly 
love-life  ;  a  species  of  amative  madness  in  a  woman,  caused  by 
too  high  living,  too  much  play,  and  no  work  at  all,  which 
course  of  life  generated  in  her  body  a  little  tiny  animalcule  not 
larger  than  the  point  of  a  pin. 

But  this  little  worm  caused  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  and 
made  a  mighty  sight  of  history. 

Let  us  now  take  another,  and   somewhat   different  view  of 


122  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AXD    MARRTACE. 

that  ■wonderful  something,  the  human  soul,  in  its  operations 
where  the  divine  master  passion  is  concerned. 

Are  they  not  strange  and  mysterious,  the  marvellous  resem- 
blances between  a  child  and  the  originals  of  the  phantomesque 
images  in  the  mother's  mind,  living  or  dead,  passive  or  active  ; 
in  other  "words,  of  a  person  about  whom  she  frequently  and 
persistently  thinks ?  for  it  is  be}rond  all  dispute  that  a  woman 
will  bear  a  babe  to  one  man,  the  body  and  features  of  which 
may  be  the  exact  image  of  another,  whom  she  may  not  so  much 
as  have  even  seen  for  a  jTear  or  more  prior  to  its  birth ;  and 
that  very  child  may,  in  after  years,  develop  a  mind  and  other 
mental  similitudes  exactly  like  those  of  a  third  man,  of  whom 
she  is  likewise  innocent ;  and  yet  that  babe  bear  not  the  re- 
motest likeness  to  its  actual  male  parent,  or  even  any  of  his 
kith,  kin,  or  lineage.  Such  things  have  been,  are,  and  will  be 
again,  and  on  the  strength  of  them  many  an  innocent  woman 
has  been  rashly,  unfeelingly,  condemned.  Of  course  there  is  a 
preventive  of  such  mento-cheinical  effects,  and  it  consists  in 
the  husband  so  favorably  and  constantly  impressing  his  wife 
that  she  shall  have  neither  time  nor  inclination  to  think  of,  or 
about,  any  other  man  than  the  lord  of  her  heart  and  father  of 
her  child,  —  only  that,  and  nothing  more.  True,  photographic 
accidents  of  that  sort  will  occasionally  happen  in  the  best 
regulated  household  ;  but  the  chances  are  slim,  if  love  holds  full 
sway ! 

In  this  connection  there  is  a  curious  thought  to  offer,  which, 
although  rather  transcendental,  yet  is  nevertheless  worth  a 
brief  space  in  these  pages.  It  is  this  :  Why  may'  not  what 
Darwin  affirms  to  be  unquestionabty  true  of  the  quadrumana,  be 
also  true  of  the  bimana,  and  especially  true  of  man?  The  ex- 
perience of  thousands  of  stock-raisers  warrants  the  great  natur- 
alist's affirmation  in  reference  to  cattle,  and  why  may  it  not 
also  be  of  their  lord  paramount,  Man?  If  the  law  in  question 
be  really  true,  then  the  idea  above  advanced  finds  a  scientific 
foundation,  and  the  legal  quibble  that  a  child  ought  to  resemble 
its  father  is  not  wholly  orthodox  or  sound  ;  besides  which  it  is 
well-known   that  thousands  of    children  do,  in  fact,  resemble 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AXD    MARRIAGE.  123 

neither  parent.  Says  Darwin,  in  his  "  Origin  of  Species," 
"  When  a  breed  has  been  crossed  only  once  by  some  other 
breed,  the  offspring  occasionally  show  a  tendency  to  revert  in 
character  to  the  foreign  breed  for  many  generations,  —  some  say 
for  a  dozen,  or  even  a.  score  of  generations.  After  twelve 
generations,  the  proportions  of  blood,  to  use  a  common  ex- 
pression, of  any  one  ancestor,  is  only  one  (1)  in  2048  ;  and 
yet,  as  we  see,  it  is  generally  believed  that  a  tendency  to  rever- 
sion is  retained  by  this  very  small  proportion  of  foreign 
blood." 

Here,  then,  is  an  idea  worth  remembering,  for  that  the  same 
law  is  in  even  fuller  and  stronger  force  in  mankind,  b}T  reason 
of  its  higher  grade,  is  not  only  reasonable,  but  demonstrated ; 
for  how  veiy  often  do  we  see  persons  who,  resembling  neither 
parent,  yet  bear  striking  physical  and  mental  likenesses  to 
ancestors  and  races  of  mankind  more  or  less  remote?  This 
being  so,  —  and  there  are  but  few  families  along  the  distant  lines 
of  which  greatness  or  goodness  has  not  cropped  out  strikingly,  — 
suppose  a  pregnant  woman,  who  has  love  at  home,  chooses  to 
mentally  dwell  upon  that  heroic,  great  or  good  ancestor,  who 
shall  tell  us  that  she  will  not,  ma}'  not,  produce  a  new  and  im- 
proved edition  of  that  original,  by  virtue  of  the  mysterious 
triple  action  of  the  law  under  discussion  ?  Darwin  goes  on  to 
Bay,  "  In  a  breed  which  has  been  crossed,  but  in  which  both 
parents  have  lost  some  character  which  their  progenitor  pos- 
sessed, the  tendency,  whether  strong  or  weak,  to  produce  the 
lost  character,  might  be,  as  was  formerly  remarked,  for  all  that 
we  can  see  to  the  contrary,  transmitted  for  almost  any  number 
of  generations."  Well,  in  the  light  here  shown,  how  true  it  is 
that  evil,  in  whatever  shape  it  be,  wears  itself  out,  and  the 
excellent  only  goes  on  ripening  itself  and  adding  to  its  volume, 
while  its  opposite  pursues  the  contrary  course  until,  at  last,  it 
topples  forever  into  an  eternal  grave  ! 

Who  can  doubt  but  that  by  the  mystic  force  of  will  and 
prayer,  a  woman  may  draw  down  to  her  while  pregnant,  and 
crystallize  in  her  child,  measureless  seas  of  good  qualities, 
which  may  have  ripened  in  the  souls  of  myriads  of  her  ancestry 


124  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

on  both  sides,  and  also  upon  those  of  her  child's  father ;  why 
may  not  she  lay  siege  to  and  capture  those  fuller  powers 
which  theretofore  have  been  only  germinal  points  in  the  four 
lines  of  ancestry  ?  Certainly  this  is  a  mighty  thought,  and  a 
true  one  too. 

The  author  believes  that  every  good  human  trait,  though 
asleep  for  a  century,  will  at  last  awaken  to  the  grand  exercise  of 
re-creative  and  re-formatory  energy  ;  for  in  man,  as  in  the  ani- 
mal, —  vide  Darwin  again, —  "  When  a  character  which  has  been 
lost  in  a  breed  reappears  after  a  great  number  of  generations, 
the  most  probable  hypothesis  is,  not  that  the  offspring  sud- 
denly takes  after  an  ancestor  some  hundred  generations  distant, 
but  that  in  each  succeeding  generation  there  has  been  a  ten- 
dency to  reproduce  the  character  in  question,  which  at  last, 
under  unknown  favorable  conditions,  gains  an  ascendency." 

But  as  man  infinitely  ranks  above  all  animals,  those  good  and 
upward  tendencies  can  be  awakened  and  struck  into  effective 
operation  by  the  resistless  potentiality  of  a  pure,  clean  will, 
and  the  exercise  of  the  moral  muscles  of  the  human  soul. 

The  great  majority  of  females  in  this  land  of  free  America 
are  weak  in  will  as  in  nearly  all  other  proper  and  healthful 
culture  ;  because  their  hot-bed,  false  education,  and  modes  of 
extreme  life,  loosen  the  very  ligaments  of  character ;  the  con- 
sequence of  which  is  that  ill-health,  torpid  viscera,  cadaverous 
faces,  3'ellow  skin,  poor  teeth,  aching  frames,  brittle  bones, 
periodic  nausea,  faulty  periodicity,  out  of  which  grow  morbid 
fancies,  domestic  trouble,  chronic  griefs  innumerable,  and  total 
lack  of  will-power,  and  moral  resolution,  —  characterize  Ameri- 
can females,  even  out  of  crowded  cities  ;  and  good  health  is 
invariably  the  exception  as  an  almost  universal  rule. 

Men  also  lead  such  very  rapid  lives,  that  the}'  are  not  much, 
if  any,  better  qualified  or  fitted  for  the  true  connubial  life  than 
women  are,  for  the  most  of  them  are  passion-driven,  victims 
of  too  varied  and  violent  modes  of  existence,  and  nine  young 
men  in  every  ten  }roung  men  are  far  better  calculated  to  destroy 
a  home  from  such  destructive  causes  than  to  build  it  up  health- 
fully and  rightly.     Married  women,  too,  as  a  general  thing,  owe 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  125 

much  of  their  actual  misery  to  too  much  exercise  of  certain 
faculties,  and  far  too  few  of  other  sorts,  in  consequence  of  which 
most  of  them  are  ill  two-thirds  of  the  time,  and  suffer  in  thou- 
sands of  other  ways,  which  no  man  can  possibly  know,  ap- 
preciate, or  understand. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  human  mind  and  body  sympathize,  to  an  extent  at 
times  perfectly  marvellous.  American  women  —  if  we  except 
the  Indians  and  Blacks  —  do  not  get  enough  sunshine,  nor  ex- 
ercise of  the  muscles  of  the  back,  shoulders,  and  abdomen  ; 
neither  do  they  breathe  deeply  or  often  enough  to  thoroughly 
vivify  and  ox}rgenate  their  blood,  or  to  mechanically  expand  the 
lungs  and  thorax.  The  remecty  suggests  itself:  In  the  cool 
season,  people  —  women  and  children  particularly  —  inhale  alto- 
gether too  much  hot,  rarified  air ;  air  rendered  deleterious  by 
those  abominations  before  God  and  man,  closed  cast-iron 
stoves,  every  one  of  which  ought  to  be  sunk  in  the  salt  sea  ten 
thousand  fathoms  deep,  and  their  places  supplied  by  open 
grates,  or,  what  is  still  better,  the  good,  old-fashioned  Frank- 
lin. 

Civilized  woman  is  altogether  too  careful  of  her  crinoline ; 
too  careless  of  her  neck  and  feet.  Too  much  weight  depends 
from  her  waist,  too  little  from  her  shoulders ;  she  is  too  fond 
of  wafer-soled  shoes,  too  heedless  of  the  advantages  of  heavy 
foundations.  Many  females  live  to  eat,  instead  of  eating  to 
live ;  are  too  fond  of  concentrated  sweets,  edible  but  indiges- 
tible flummeries,  pies,  cakes,  strong  tea,  nick-nacks,  confec- 
tionery, —  albeit  pure  sugar  candy,  and  a  fair  share  of  sweets 
are  essential  to  the  physical  life  of  love,  while  excess  in  its 
use  most  unquestionably  leads  to  amatory  folly  likewise. 

Here  let  it  be  known  that  the  girl  who  accepts  confectionery 
from  her  lover,  as  a  general  rule,  is  a  fool,  no  matter  how  well 
she  thinks  she  knows  him ;  for  many  and  many  a  girl  has  lost 


126  WOMAN,   LOVE*    AND  MARRIAGE. 

all  that  she  was  through  a  package  of  candy  —  undrugged 
candy  at  that.  And,  candy !  Well,  the  writer  of  this  knows 
people  in  Boston  who  drug  confectionery  for  the  vilest  of  pur- 
poses. Their  shameless  advertisements  used  to  appear  in  a 
respectable  Boston  daily  ;  and  to  this  day,  at  least,  one  large, 
wholesale  drug  house  displays  upon  its  walls  the  flashy  card  of 
a  conscienceless  wretch,  said  card  informing  the  hundreds  who 
pass  in  and  out  there  daily,  that  for  a  trifling  sum  they  can 

procure   "  Professor  's  celebrated  candy."      "Well,  a  villain 

buys  it,  breaks  it  up  with  other  confections,  gives  it  to  "  his 
girl  "  as  they  take  a  moonlight  walk.  Presently  she  eats  it ; 
feels  an  unusual  flow  of  spirits,  succeeded  by  drowsiness ;  a 
bagnio  is  near  at  hand,  —  he  advises  her  to  drop  in  at  his 
"aunt's  "till  she  feels  better;  they  enter,  —  a  glass  of  wine, 
and  her  blood  is  on  fire  in  an  instant  —  even  though  she  never 
felt  such  flames  before.  Well,  she  leaves  that  house  a  ruined 
girl,  —  the  victim  of  one  damned  scoundrel,  put  up  to  it  by  an 
infinitely  worse  one.  The  meaning  of  this  statement  is : 
Young  girls,  never  eat  candy  given  you  by  a  lover  —  never! 
He  may  be  honest,  but  be  you  on  the  safe  side  ;  and  if  you  eat 
it  at  all  at  his  expense,  select  it  yourself,  in  the  store ;  but 
never  touch  a  bit  he  brings  you !  Then  you  will  know  you  are 
not  eating,  —  and,  —  and,  —  and  the  still  worse,  —  all  of  which 
are  hell's  own  condiments,  and  nothing  less. 

An  ounce  of  genuine  affection  and  love,  shed  from  a  husband's 
manner,  goes  a  great  ivay  toward  filling  the  void  in  a  poor  wife's 
heart.  Per  contra,  many  a  woman  is  undeserving  of  any  hus- 
band at  all,  judging  from  the  notorious  fact  that  every  tenth 
man  regards  his  home  as  above  all  places  the  spot  where  he 
enjoys  himself  the  least.  If  it  were  not  so,  the  brothels  would 
not  be  so  well  sustained,  as  they  unquestionably  are,  by  — 
married  men!  Thousands  of  wives  practically  believe  that,  so 
long  as  they  keep  the  house,  and  tamely  submit  to  the  ofttimes 
unreasonable  whims  and  caprices  of  the  head  of  the  house, 
especially  if  against  their  own  inclinations,  they  have  done 
their  whole  duty  ;  but  that  is  a  great  mistake,  aud  a  fatal  one  ; 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  127 

for  when  a  husband  sees  that  his  wife  values  herself  more  upon 
her  physical  relations  toward  him,  than  she  does  upon  the  infi- 
nitely higher,  because  mental,  moral,  aud  aesthetic  ones,  he  is 
very  apt  in  time  to  accept  her  at  her  own  valuation,  and  treat 
and  regard  her  accordingly.  Yet  this  very  identical  rock  is  that 
upon  which  thousands  of  homes  are  yearly  wrecked  and  shat- 
tered to  very  flinders.  Another  thought  just  here.  Women 
complain,  and  justly,  too,  that  they  are  forced  to  accept  unwel- 
comeness;  but  they  forget  the  unwelcome  homage  their  husbands 
are  obliged  to  paj^,  is  heart-breaking  to  the  man,  and  that  its 
effects  on  him  are  to  sour  his  soul,  and  rn:ike  him  anything  but 
what  he  ought  to  be.  Woman  !  woman  !  the  rule  works  both 
ways,  and  a  husband  has  as  much  right  to  expect  warmth,  as 
you  have  to  expect  tenderness  and  affection.  Woman  was 
made  to  love,  yet  few  know  how  to  do  it.  She  was  made  to  be 
loved,  and  might  be,  by  her  husband,  if  she  only  took  the  pains 
to  teach  him  how.  She  has  a  right  to  be  respected  and  admired 
for  certain  qualities  which  are  infinitely  superior  to  mere  physi- 
cal sex.  Mental  sex  is  what  men  love  most.  She  is  ever 
wronged  unless  she  is  admired  by  those  around  her,  and  by  all 
the  world.  It  is  her  intuitive  sense  of  this  heaven-born  right, 
and  her  natural  and  spontaneous  determination  to  obtain  it, 
that  from  the  year  One,  till  to-day,  has  prompted  every  female, 
from  Dahomey  upward,  to  set  off  her  charms  to  the  best  advan- 
tage. Show  us  a  woman  who  despises  dress,  and  we  will  show 
you  a  female  monster  with  a  bad  spot  in  some  corner  of  her 
mind. 

All  women  are  aware  of  the  power  of  dress,  but  in  these  days 
they  pervert  it.  Go  into  any  parlor  and  you  will  find  a  very 
fine  and  gorgeous  display  of  millinery,  but  an  exceedingly  poor 
show  of  brains,  if  solidity  and  real  sense  count  for  anything ; 
for  the  whole  aim  seems  to  be  to  reach  the  acme  of  sensational 
flip-flappery  and  show. 

Jessie  II.  Jones,  in  the  "  Women's  Journal,"  a  Boston  sheet, 
runs  a  terrible  tilt  against  the  present  style  of  women's  dress. 
She  claims,  indeed,  that  for  the  last  six  or  eight  years  women's 
dresses  have  been  devised  by  the  courtesans  of  Paris.     Hear 


128  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

her :  "  It  is  a  further  fact  that  these  fashions  were  specially 
devised  by  these  women  for  the  very  purpose  of  aiding  them  in 
carrj-ing  on  their  trade  more  successfully ;  that  is,  to  make 
them  '  more  attractive '  (to  use  a  euphemism  which  being 
translated  into  plain  speech,  means,  more  exciting  to  the 
passions  of)  men.  The  highest  artistic  power  that  can  be 
used  has  been  successfully  prostituted  to  the  securing  of  this 
bestial  purpose.  In  short,  the  present  prevailing  style  of 
dress  may  be  fittingly  termed  courtesanship  in  woman's  cos- 
tume. These  Parisian  women,  who  have  devised  these  styles, 
are  those  who  for  to-day  correspond  to  the  priestesses  of  As- 
tarte,  the  Zidonian  Venus ;  and  our  Christian  mothers  and 
sisters,  the  Hebrew  of  to-day,  have  gone  mad  after  these  abom- 
inations of  the  heathen,  are  literally  wearing  the  uniform  of  the 
priestesses  of  such  a  goddess.  I  am  speaking  now  of  walking- 
dresses.  The  flaps  and  tails,  the  frills  and  the  furbelows,  and 
even  the  airy  curves  of  the  outlines  of  the  short  overskirts,  as 
these  are  all  combined  together,  were  intended  to  be,  and  their 
natural  affects  are,  fit  adjuncts  to  the  trade  of  the  strange 
woman.  Not  even  in  the  days  of  Ahab  was  the  licentious 
paganism  of  the  Jezebel's  native  Tyre  more  flaunted  in  the 
face  of  those  Israelites  who  remained  faithful  to  the  true  God 
than  is  to-day,  in  matters  of  dress,  the  licentious  paganism 
flaunted  in  the  face  of  American  Christendom,  and  that,  too,  by 
Christian  women." 

And  Jessie  Jones  is  right.     Enough  on  that  point. 

A  woman,  unless  she  is  loved,  and  made  aware  of  it,  not  in 
flatteries  and  honeyed  words,  —  which  speak  the  language  of 
mere  blood-heat  oftener  than  anything  else,  —  but  in  the  ten 
thousand  little  attentions  of  life,  is  by  far  the  most  miserable 
creature  in  God's  creation,  except  the  man  who  does  all  he  can 
to  merit  a  wife's  love,  unavailingly. 

"Where  a  wife  finds  herself  regarded  as  a  drudge,  slave,  and 
plaything ;  where  and  when  she  sees  no  comfort  and  joy,  feels 
not  a  warming,  genial  ray  of  life's  sunshine,  has  no  friendly 
bosom  in  which  to  pour  out  the  aching  fulness  of  her  heart,  — 
the  great  flood  of  her  gathering  grief;  has  no  one  to  "kind" 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE.  129 

her,  and  speak  and  act  lovingly  to  her,  —  what  wonder  that  she 
revolts  at  times,  and  not  only  forgets  her  "  duty,"  but  her  own 
personal  dignity  and  self-respect,  under  the  blandishing  but 
destructive  influence  of  that  lying  and  salacious  philosophy  now 
so  current,  which  teaches  that  disobedience  to  the  marriage  vow 
is  obedience  to  the  commands  of  God  ?  What  wonder  that  she 
occasionally  becomes  blinded  by  philosophic  mist,  when  she  is 
offered  that,  which  from  her  ignorance  of  the  real  article  at 
home,  where  she  ought  to  find  it,  she  mistakes  for  true,  heart- 
felt, heaven-sanctioned  love?  There  is  no  cause  for  marvel, 
nor  that  so  many  have  fallen  so  low  that  it  is  difficult  to  rise 
again  ;  but  there  is  a  marvel,  and  a  mighty  one,  that  such  vast 
numbers,  such  untold  hosts,  have  triumphed,  not  merely  over 
temptation,  but  achieved  a  nobler  task,  —  the  victory  over 
self. 

Per  contra :  What  marvel  that  many  a  well-meaning  man 
has  been  driven  by  his  wife's  coldness,  offisliness,  petulance,  and 
vinegar  disposition,  from  the  home  he  tries  to  love,  but  cannot 
on  that  account?  What  marvel  that  such  a  man — and  God 
knows  there  are  thousands  —  should  be  blinded  by  the  sophis- 
tical special  pleading  of  Satanic  philosoplry,  and  comes  to  the 
conclusion  that  he  is  justified  in  seeking  in  the  caressing  arms 
of  a  wanton  that  solace  which  his  wife  will  not  give  him.  Tak- 
ing the  average  of  men,  and  estimating  them  at  their  true 
value  and  positions  in  the  great  scale  of  the  race,  there  is  but 
little  room  for  wonder  that  they  thus  exemplify  their  human 
weakness  ;  but  there  is  room  to  marvel  that  so  many  men,  under 
such  provocation,  and  surrounded  bj'  so  many  and  potent  temp- 
tations to  err,  still  remain  true  to  their  wives,  still  labor  for  the 
household,  still  fight  the  world  for  bread,  and  die  without  tast- 
ing one  single  drop  of  the  exquisite  honey  of  Home  Love  ! 

One  great  and  fatal  mistake  that  men  make  is,  that  they  deem 
it  beneath  them  to  either  study  or  yield  to  a  woman.  Not  one 
man  in  twenty  thoroughly  understands  a  woman ;  not  one 
husband  in  fifty  really  knows  his  wife.  A  woman  is  a  mine, 
exhaustless  ;  the  deeper  you  go,  the  larger  diamonds  will  you 
find.     Most  men  live  on  the  surface  —  feed  on  the   edges   of 


130  WOMAN)    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

the  marital  pasture.  Men  think  they  know  woman,  but  really 
are  entire  strangers  to  her  nature.  They  underrate  her  impor- 
tance, intuition,  and  divining  power.  As  for  the  author,  he 
would  rather  face  ten  men,  with  the  "  devil "  at  their  back,  than 
enter  the  lists  with  a  woman  determined  on  his  defeat  and 
rain  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  had  rather  take  the  word  of  a 
woman  who  was  a  real  friend,  than  rely  on  the  sworn  oaths  of 
a  whole  battalion  of  men ;  for  men  have  a  bad  habit  of  sajnng 
much  and  performing  little,  while  a  woman  says  little,  but  does 
much  when  the  time  for  action  comes  along. 

The  majority  of  men  practically  regard  woman  as  a  softer 
sort  of  male  ;  treat  her  as  such ;  square  their  conduct  towards 
her  as  if  she  were  a  man  in  all  respects.  In  all  things  save  one 
she  is  looked  on  as  if  gender  extended  not  beyond  the  physique. 
Wrong  !  wrong  !  She  is  of  finer  mould  and  stuff,  and  converts 
her  food  into  several  materials  and  juices  more  than  man  does. 
She  has  finer  and  acuter  sensibilities,  and  is  infinitely  more 
susceptible,  not  only  to  the  same  things  which  affect  man,  but 
experiences  whole  classes  of  sensations  to  which  the  male  must 
forever  be  a  stranger ;  and  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave  she 
moves  along  a  path  parallel  to,  but  never  once  merging  into, 
that  which  man  travels,  in  spite  of  what  the  rightites  aver  to  the 
contrary.  Go  where  3*011  will,  find  her  where  you  may,  you 
will  discover  that  she  is  ever  disgusted  with  many  things  which 
constitute  the  solace  and  delight  of  the  male  ;  while  she  enjoys 
the  acme  of  felicity  in  things  totally  insipid  to  a  man. 

Woman  is  everywhere  an  instrument  of  music,  capable  of 
giving  forth  strains  divinely  sweet  and  soothing ;  and  sensible 
men  seek  to  evoke  and  profit  by  it.  Properly  played  on,  the 
tones  called  forth  are  sweeter  than  ever  came  from  any  other 
source  ;  but  if  the  chords  be  harshly  struck,  —  as,  alas  !  they  too 
frequently  are,  —  what  wonder  that  they  are  dissonant,  crackling, 
harsh  and  grating?  The  wonder  is  that  they  are  not  more  so. 
The  human  being,  but  civilized  woman  especially,  is 

A  harp  for  angels'  fingers  strung, 
While  colder  hands  are  o'er  it  flung, 
And  only  broken  strains  are  sung. 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    JXD    MAHBIAGE.  131 

"Woman,  standing  everywhere  as  the  synonyme  of  gentle- 
ness, tenderness,  affection,  and  trust,  should  be  treated  accord- 
ingly. Even  the  harlots  who  infest  the  purlieus  are  women 
still,  and  therefore  deserve  just  such  treatment  as  Christ  gave 
them,  — not  such  as  they  receive  from  most  of  those  who  claim 
to  be  his  followers.  A  very  intelligent  physician  in  Xew 
England  once  said,  in  a  speech,  that  he  could  imagine  such  a 
thing  as  a  virtuous  prostitute.  His  opinion  was,  doubtless, 
predicated  on  the  fact  that  very  few  people  in  this  world  are 
exactly  at  heart  what  circumstances  compel  them  to  be  exter- 
nally. Take  it  as  a  general  thing,  harlots  are  denounced  the 
loudest  by  those  who  have  fallen  in  God's  sight,  not  only 
lower,  but  ten  times  to  the  harlot's  once !  That's  gall ;  but 
true,  nevertheless. 

Deep  down  in  every  Cj'prian  heart,  far  away  beneath  the 
physical  structure  which  poverty,  the  biting  north  wind  and 
wintry  tempest,  shelterless  head  and  griping  hunger  compels 
them  to  barter  off  piecemeal  to  ready  purchasers,  there  lies  a 
pearl  of  great  price  ;  just  such  pearls,  sir  or  madam,  as  shine 
in  the  coronet  of  heaven,  and  sparkle  in  your  little  daughter's 
breast.     True,  it  is  soiled,  yet  still  it  is  a  pearl ! 

Every  one  of  these  "  social  evils"  has  an  immortal  soul  to  be 
washed  clean  in  the  infinite  stream  of  God's  great  river  of 
mercy !  Every  one  of  them  can  feel;  the}'  dare  not  stop  to 
think,  —  for  to  think  is  madness,  madness !  and  they  have  a 
boundless  capacity  to  love,  —  love  purely,  too,  which  proves 
that  God  has  neither  driven  them  from  beneath  the  brooding 
wings  of  mercy,  or  cast  them  off  forever,  forgotten ;  nor 
despised  them.  Why,  then,  should  we  ?  Why  should  anybody  ? 
It  strikes  the  writer  that  many  a  respectable  person  who  sees 
these  women  going  to  ruin,  yet  are  so  full  of  "  damning  "  as  to 
have  no  time  to  save  them,  would,  if  analyzed  in  heaven's 
alembic,  not  yield  so  much  pure  human  gold  as  would  man}T  of 
these  fallen  ones  !     That's  wormwood ! 

Woman  is  more  easily  affected  lyy  climatic  and  atmospheric 
changes  than  man,  especially  American  women.  These  changes, 
affecting  the  body,  react  on  the  mind,  and  for  this  reason  her 


132  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MAPItTAGE. 

morbid  nerves  are  rendered  still  more  so,  and  hence  her  social, 
domestic,  and  personal  difficulties  are  magnified  greatly  be}rond 
their  true  proportions ;  they  loom  up  as  mountains  when, 
were  the  truth  known,  they  would  prove  to  be  very  dimin- 
utive mole-hills.  Restore  her  physically,  and  you  will  enable 
her  to  look  through  a  glass  not  so  darkly. 

The  reason  why  prostitutes  die  so  soon,  and  many  honest 
wives  drop  into  early  graves,  is  because  there  is  no  soul  in  the 
sort  of  love  they  give  and  receive,  —  it  is  physical  solely,  and 
therefore  most  terribly  exhausting.  All  love  between  man  and 
woman  shouM  be  holy,  true,  and  sacred,  otherwise  the  invisible 
Damoclean  sword  hangs  over  them  both  ;  and  it  will  assuredly 
fall  some  day,  and  then,  when  it  is  too  late,  both  will  bitterly 
repent  their  shortsightedness.  The  woman  who  is  physically 
loved  only,  is  sure  to  languish,  grow  sickly,  pale,  querulous, 
impatient,  fretful,  haggard,  emaciated  and  discontented,  and 
finally  demoralized ;  while  the  husband  suffers  to  an  equal 
degree,  but  in  a  different  direction.  He  grows  hard,  harsh, 
careless,  and  entertains  thoughts  not  good  for  his  soul !  The 
children  of  such  couples  are  one-sided,  deformed  in  mind,  and, 
literally,  are  not  half  made  up.  Such  people  change  from  July 
to  January,  towards  each  other,  within  the  space  of  a  single 
hour,  and  they  see  far  more  of  wintry  than  of  summer  weather 
during  life. 

Extremes  abound  in  the  world.  We  have  the  Isolation  sys- 
tem of  Shakerism  on  one  side,  and  the  "  Freedom  "  of  Noyes 
and  Andrews  on  the  other  ;  while  there  is  a  third  class,  led  by 
fanatics  of  New  England,  who  declare  that  human  commerce  is 
on  a  par  with  that  of  field  or  farm-yard  beasts.  Such  reasoners 
deserve  no  better  audience  than  the  farm-yards  produce,  for  cer- 
tainly they  are  not  fit  to  teach  human  beings,  seeing  that  com- 
mon sense,  no  less  than  common  custom,  since  the  world  began, 
gives  them  and  their  reasonings  the  lie ;  for  the  reason  that 
beasts  are  blindly  led  by  the  procreative  instinct ;  while  man- 
kind being  a  triplicate,  soul,  spirit,  body,  is  moved  by  corre- 
sponding triplicate  motives  or  impulses  —  or  should  be,  at 
all  events,  but  too  often   is  not.     First,  the  selfish  desire  of 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MAXRTAGE.  133 

personal  joy  ;  and  all  marriages  consummated  on  such  grounds, 
rnainby, —  and  many  such  there  be,  —  can  but  result  in  un- 
happiuess,  —  the  marry-in-haste-repent-at-leisure  affairs  which 
abound  on  all  sides.  The  man  whose  principal  merit  lies 
in  his  merely  physical  energy  and  prowess  soon  renders  him- 
self distasteful,  to  even  a  coarse  wife,  and  unendurable  and  dis- 
gusting to  a  refined  one.  The  woman  whose  chief  recommen- 
dations are  her  physical  charms,  would  very  soon  exhaust  the 
patience  of  even  the  archangel  Michael,  much  more  a  common 
son  of  clay,  and  speedily  find  herself  a  "grass  widow"  of  the 
true  New  England,  Californian,  or  Australian  stamp.  2d. 
Mankind,  like  brutes,  are  moved  by  this  external,  or  mere 
blood-fire,  and  also  by  the  higher,  and  mental  motives  of  the 
deeper  soul,  which  beasts  are  not.  And,  3d,  last,  highest,  man- 
kind are  moved  in  the  direction  indicated,  by  the  religious 
desire  of  interchange  of  immortal  well-meaning  and  good,  — 
above,  beneath,  and  between  souls  as  well  as  grosser  selves  ;  — 
a  love  all  truly  human.  For  this  reason  the  man  is  truly  a  fool 
who  places  the  human  marriage  union  on  a  par  with  that  of 
brutes.  He  can  be  nothing  but  a  fool,  or  knave,  who  asserts 
that  propagation  alone  should  draw  people  together  ;  for  if  the 
world  should  never  be  peopled,  save  by  those  brought  here  by 
rule  and  plummet  law  —  by  intention  and  purpose,  —  a  la  army 
contract,  —  then  this  world  would  not  be  crowded  very  fast,  and 
Malthus  dance  with  joy  ! 

Too  much  of  a  good  thing  palls  the  taste ;  and  so,  too,  if  a 
couple  who  really  love  each  other  make  fools  of  themselves  on 
that  account,  and  neglect  their  physical  interests,  they  will  find 
it  don't  pay  in  the  long  run  ;  for  after  a  while  the  supplies  will 
be  cut  off;  for  as  said  before,  love  can  be  wasted  just  as  can 
the  saliva  by  tobacco-chewers,  or  nerve-force  by  drunkards. 

Rapid  Americans  are  an  fait  in  the  art  of  destroying  life, 
especially  by  gustatory  and  other  excess,  but  are  not  remark- 
ably efficient  in  the  modes  of  preserving  and  prolonging  it.  In 
fact  there's  a  national  leakness,  and  a  national  weakness  too. 
To  stop  the  former  and  correct  the  latter  is  up-hill  work,  yet  it 
can  be  done.     How  many  wives   are  yearly  immolated,  how 


134  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

many  husbands  destroy  themselves  on  that  one  accursed  altar ! 
—  for  abused,  it  is  a  curse  ! 

Disease,  sin,  and  civilization  travel  together,  —  at  least  they 
have  till  to-night ;  but  there  comes  a  divorcing  morrow.  Why  ? 
Because  the  first  two  are  parasites  of  the  last,  which  last,  when 
washed  clean  in  the  river  of  common  sense,  a  rare  old  bath, 
will  undoubtedly  make  things  all  right  again ;  and  then  no 
longer  will  blackmail  be  levied  by  disease  on  the  universal 
species. 

Modern  diseases  and  the  dreadful  and  prevalent  voluptuous- 
ness come  of  the  same  mother ;  banish  the  latter  and  the  for- 
mer will  disappear  forever,  never  again  to  fever  mankind  and 
curse  the  species. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Divorces  are  quite  too  common  in  these  days.  Many  a  man 
and  woman  worry  each  other's  lives  out  in  the  hope  of  driving 
their  marital  team  through  that  gate.  Were  marriages  indis- 
soluble, then,  people  finding  that  they  must  either  lie  quietly 
on  the  bed  themselves  have  voluntarily  made,  or  else  not  lie  at 
all,  would  take  good  care  to  render  it  soft  as  possible,  both  for 
the  partner  and  self.  But  just  so  long  as  there  is  the  least 
chance  for  a  legal  separation,  just  so  long  there  will  be  a 
premium  on  adultery  and  ill-usage.  If  divorce  was  impossible, 
there  would  be  fewer  of  the  "  if-marriage-is-disagreeable,  di- 
vorce-is-easy  unions,"  so  common  in  these  clays. 

Disorders  of  mind  and  body  are  transmitted  through  scores 
of  generations  ;  and  we  of  this  age  have  not  only  to  pay  for  our 
own  sins,  but  must  also  wipe  out  a  long  score  run  up  years,  ay, 
centuries  ago,  by  our  jolly  wassail-drinking  ancestors.  We 
have  to  face  the  music  and  pay  the  fiddler  for  their  dancing, 
just  as  our  successors  will  pay  and  damn  us  for  ours.  The 
disorders  of  to-day  unquestionably  spring  from  the  waste  of 
strength  and  loss  of  stamina  consequent  upon  infractions  of  the 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  135 

human  love  law,  with  false  modes  of  life,  and  the  indiscriminate 
use  and  abuse  of  functions  bestowed  on  the  race  for  very  dif- 
ferent purposes. 

When  men  and  women  learn  the  grand  law  of  self-conserva- 
tion in  the  matter  of  love  alone,  they  will  be  forever  happy, 
because  then  disease  can  no  more  remain  man's  scourge  than 
holiness  can  exist  in  Gehenna  ! 

Many  so-called  "medical  professors  "  are  not  seldom  regular 
numskulls ;  as  a  general  thing  they  fret  and  fume  at  their  ina- 
bility to  master  diseases,  especially  such  as  afflict  women.  The 
cause  of  their  failure  is,  that  they  attempt  to  go  too  deep  ;  they 
fancy  that  the  fountain  lies  afar  off  in  the  intricacies  of  physi- 
cal being,  when,  in  fact,  it  lies  right  square  before  them,  as  has 
been  shown.  The}*-  doctor  effects  ;  causes  go  untouched.  Medi- 
cal science  (surgery  aside)  is  very  unscientific  after  all ;  there's 
too  much  guess-work  about  it.  The  Spaniard's  epitaph  is  true 
of  more  dead  men  and  women  than  himself:  — 

"  I  was  sick  —  wanted  to  get  well, 
Took  physic  —  and  —  here  I  am  "  — 

Six  feet  beneath  the  surface  of  his  mother-earth's  bosom. 

The  consumptions,  dyspepsias,  liver-diseases,  syphilitic  affec- 
tions, epilepsy,  fits,  neuralgias  ;  female  difficulties,  as  chlorosis, 
rheumatism,  gout,  fallen  womb,  leucorrhea,  piles,  headache, 
suppressed  menses,  flooding,  together  with  seminal  weakness, 
nightly  perspiration,  cancer,  and  ulcerations  of  all  sorts,  in- 
cluding all  scrofulous  affections,  —  are  the  curses  of  this  -age  ; 
they  are  treated  in  the  wrong  way,  and  the  remedies  are  often 
worse  than  the  diseases  in  their  effects  upon  the  patients,  and 
their  patience !  True :  admit  that  all  the  above,  except  the 
fourth,  are  mainly  external  proofs  of  internal  mental .  bad 
states,  but  the  author  of  this  work  does  not  believe  it  possible 
for  those  diseases  to  exist  in  the  home  where  pure  love  reigns, 
any  more  than  for  ice  to  exist  in  a  heated  furnace,  because  love 
antagonizes  them,  and  they  cannot  remain ;  yet,  for  all  that, 
nature  needs  art's  assistance  to  restore  the  proper  balance. 


136  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

The  writer  hereof  has  no  faith  whatever  in  lust,  in  any  form, 
but  he  does  own  to  a  mighty  confidence  in  the  Love-C ore, — 
the  means  above  all  others  to  which  resort  all  mothers,  brute, 
or  human  alike,  whenever  the  young  one  is  sick  c1'  imperilled. 
See  that  young  matron  !  how  tenderly  she  rubs  the  little  bruised 
nose,  and  breathes  upon  the  precious  burnt  fingers  !  Why, 
even  yonder  old  blue  hen  is  au  fait  in  the  sublime  mysteries  of 
the  love-cure  !  Just  mark  how  tenderly  she  broods  her  chicks 
when  they  are  wet  and  cold.  Well,  we  humans  are  all  chickens 
when  we  are  sick,  and  need  just  such  brooding  in  order  to  get 
well.  When  we  are  well  we  need  just  such  brooding  by  our 
wives,  sisters,  brothers,  and  husbands  to  keep  us  so. 

It  has,  reader,  already  been  stated  in  this  work  —  the  crys- 
tallized results  or  resume  of  a  life's  experience  —  that  love,  both 
in  its  phases  of  sentiment  and  passion  of  the  human  soul  and 
body  too,  is,  to  a  greater  extent  than  superficial  people  will 
readily  believe,  or,  indeed,  are  capable  of  doing,  dependent 
upon  the  absence  or  presence,  in  greater  or  less  volume,  of  a 
peculiar  nerve-aura  which  is  elaborated  within  the  body,  but 
actually  ranging  and  circulating  over  and  through  the  very 
soul  itself.  Very  much,  nay,  even  more  depends  upon  the  truly 
healthy  or  unhealtlvy  state  of  that  aura  than '  upon  its  amount 
or  volume  ;  for  in  that,  as  in  all  things  else,  quality  ranks  quan- 
tity. This  aura,  by  reason  of  its  magnetic  nature,  —  for  it 
attracts  and  repels, — has  herein  been  called  plrysical  love,  for 
one  reason,  among  others,  that  oxen,  eunuch-dogs,  and  human 
eunuchs  have  it  not ;  nor  does  airy  emasculant  emit  the  sphere 
resulting  from  its  presence,  which  sphere  in  animals  takes  the 
form  of  an  odor  which  influences  the  female  of  the  same  spe- 
cies, but  which  in  the  human  being  assumes  the  form  of  a 
delicate,  subtile,  magnetic,  glowing  sphere  or  emanation,  capable 
of  being  distinctly  sensed  by  all  persons  whatever,  and  which, 
when  thus  sensed,  makes  us  say  that  such  and  such  a  person  is 
quite  lovable ;  and  when  it  is  not  sensed  we  say  such  a  person 
is  hateful ;  and  we  often  apply  even  worse  terms  than  that.  Now 
one  great  essential  to  a  successful  and  happy  love-life  is  that 
this  sphere  be  kept  right,  and  to  do  that  we  must  eat,  drink, 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  137 

laugh,  sing,  and  sleep  well ;  otherwise  it  becomes  exhausted, 
and  we  lose  our  power  and  personal  force  and  influence  in  exact 
proportion.  Boy  babies  have  more  of  a  sphere  which  in  other 
years  becomes  changed  into  this  aura  than  girls,  up  to  their  fourth 
year ;  consequently  attract  more  notice,  and  are  kissed  oftenest. 
But  after  that  age,  till  death,  the  girls  have  it  all  their  own  way. 

"When  we  are  most  healthful  and  true,  both  in  bod\*  and  mind, 
this  aura  is  most  plentiful  and  powerful.  Music,  dancing,  sing- 
ing, and  very  fervid  preaching  evokes  its  action  ;  it  rages  at 
camp-meeting,  flows  in  ball-rooms,  leaps  to  life  at  singing- 
parties,  and  abounds  more  where  reserve  is  laid  aside  and  aban- 
don takes  its  place  ;  hence,  must  be  watched,  for  but  very  few 
men,  and  less  women,  are  able  to  withstand  its  tide  and  sug- 
gestions, when  it  flows  strongly ;  for  it  has  very  often  swept 
even  many  a  right  reverend  father  in  God  down  the  wind  when 
blowing  fairly  on  him  from  the  outside,  and  met  with  an  equally 
vehement  tide  evolved  from  within.  All  this  is  chemical,  but  a 
chemistry  finer  than  what  passes  by  that  name. 

Nothing  but  cool  will  can  stay  it ;  nothing  but  calm  reason 
direct  its  highest  mode  of  use. 

This  aura  is  of  varied  degrees  of  intensity.  It  radiates  from 
our  ej'es,  features,  face,  fingers,  our  entire  bodies,  just  as  heat 
does  from  a  stove  or  grate.  Let  those  who  doubt  this  just  note 
the  exhaustion  consequent  upon  holding  the  hands  of  a  sick 
person,  especially  if  that  person  be  of  the  opposite  sex,  and 
one  of  those  who  plod  broken-hearted  on  their  way  through  the 
world,  hungry  for  love,  starving  for  three  grains  of   affection. 

In  his  day  the  writer  has  seen  many  persons,  particularly 
females,  who  practice  "  clairvoyance,"  and  who  "  sit  for  com- 
munications," and  the  majority  were  literally  used  up,  because 
they  were  sympathetic,  and  hence  easily  drained,  through  hand- 
holding  and  tactual  impression,  of  their  last  drop  of  vitality, 
the  last  spark  of  love-fire  in  their  bodies.  What  wonder,  then, 
that  many  such  people  soon  degenerate  physically,  grow  queer, 
eccentric,  deranged,  morbidly  sensitive,  and  melancholy?  None 
whatever. 

The  love-cure  is  performed  rapidly  or  not.  in  exact  ratio  of 


138  WOMAN,   LOVE,. AND   MAURI  AGE. 

the  moral  purity  and  physical  health  of  the  operator.  A  bad 
man  or  woman  ma}'  be  healed  by  this  process ;  but  they  must 
first  become  pure  themselves  ere  they  attempt  to  heal  others. 
The  love-cure  is  higher  than  mere  mesmerism,  for  it  acts 
magnetically,  electrically,  chemically,  emotionally,  and  dynam- 
ically. 

When  such  a  vast  amount  of  illness  exists  from  afFectional 
causes,  how  exceedingly  absurd  it  is  to  attempt  to  cure  them 
solely  by  mere  medicinal  means !  How  well  Shakespeare  under- 
stood this  idea,  when  he  makes  the  conscience-smitten  Macbeth 
exclaim :  — 


"  Canst  thou  minister  to  a  mind  diseased; 
Pluck  from  the  memory  a  rooted  sorrow; 
Raze  out  the  written  troubles  of  the  brain 
And  with  some  sweet  oblivious  antidote 
Cleanse  the  foul  bosom  of  the  perilous  stuff 
That  weighs  upon  the  heart?  " 


No.  It  cannot  be  done  ;  and  if  we  would  have  the  body  right, 
the  affections  must  be  right  also,  and  to  do  that  we  must  be  just 
and  true,  and  kind  and  loving  to  ourselves  and  one  another. 

Many  a  man  has  only  found  out  how  well,  how  truly,  wholly, 
fully,  and  how  tenderly  he  loved  his  wife,  at  the  dread  moment 
when  the  death-angel  hovered  near  her  pillow,  ready  to  bear 
her  soul  to  God  ;  and  then,  when  the  ice  around  his  heart  has 
melted,  and  he  has  discovered  how  priceless  she  was,  how 
supremely  near  and  dear,  —  that  after  all  she  was  something 
higher,  nobler,  better,  than  a  mere  pleasure-barge, — has  the  power 
and  the  will  gone  forth  on  the  love-tides  of  his  soul  to  beat  back 
Azrael,  and  recall  her  into  life  again  ;  then  has  love  worked 
such  miracles  as  made  the  doctors  gape  with  surprise  at  his 
power  and  their  impotency.  This  is  the  love-cure,  and  by  it 
a  man  may  heal  his  scrofulous  and  nerve-sick  wife,  and  the 
mother  save  her  darling  babe.  Through  it  a  husband  or  wife 
may  cure  not  merely  the  physical,  but  the  passional  and  moral 
ills  of  the  partner ;  all  that  is  requisite  is  purpose,  practice, 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  139 

perseverance.     These  three  will  rescue  from  the  grave,  yearly, 
millions  of  suffering  people. 

.  But  there  is  one  drawback  to  this  system  of  treatment,  which 
is,  that  men  are  generally  so  morbid  that  they  cannot  mingle 
in  woman's  sphere  without  being  tortured  with  the  hadean 
flames  of  unhallowed  passion.  There  are  a  few  who  are  su- 
perior, but  these  are  exceptions  to  the  rule. 

Reader,  if  you  know  a  man,  woman,  or  child  sick  with 
scrofula,  or  anything  else,  make  it  your  business  to  render 
them  as  happy  as  possible  t  Do  this,  especially  if  the  patient's 
brain,  affections,  or  reason  either,  is  affected,  and  in  a  short 
time  you  will  reap  a  golden  fruitage  for  j^our  labor. 

Perhaps  those  who  read  this  book  when  the  hand  that  pens 
it  shall  be  cold  in  death,  and  the  soul  that  thought  it  is  basking 
in  God's  sunshine  on  the  farther  shore,  will  not  take  it  amiss 
if  he  here  expresses  in  plain  terms  one  of  the  most  momentous 
truths  in  the  love  line  he,  or  any  one  else,  ever  discovered.  It 
is  this :  Every  disease  that  may  be  lurking  away  down  in  the 
very  deeps  and  intricacies  of  your  body,  or  that  may  be  slyly 
hiding  in  some  mysterious  recess  or  nook  of  your  physical,  or 
even  mental  part,  are  all  emboldened  to  come  out  and  take 
their  places  in  the  train  whereof  amative  passion  is  not  only 
engineer  and  fireman,  but  conductor  also,  who  has  called  them 
all  from  their  places  by  lateral-lines  —  the  nervous  and  other 
centres  —  to  the  grand  depot.  Now  this  conductor  understands 
his  business  perfectly ;  and  is  so  absolutely  wide  awake,  as  to 
never  miss  an  opportunity  of  summoning  the  largest  possible 
representative  delegation  to  go  on  his  train  to  the  amatory 
congress.  When  the  trip  is  over  and  journey  completed,  both 
cars  and  conductor  go  back  again,  but  the  delegates  always  re- 
main; and  every  one  of  them,  be  their  names  Scrofula,  Con- 
sumption, Dropsy,  Insanity,  or  whatsoever  else,  will,  in  time, 
you  may  depend  upon  it,  be  sure  to  be  seen,  heard,  and  felt 
from  the  tribune  of  the  children's  bodies  and  souls  who  may 
thereafter  claim  you  as  parent. 

But  are  people  who  are  victims  to  disease.—  except  madness  — 
x>  be  utterly  debarred  from  love,  home,  and  its  joys  ?    Reply, 


140  WOMAX,    LOVE,    AND    \t  Mi  MAGE. 

No.  Your  only  hope  of  escape  from  making  marriage  suicide 
and  murder  in  the  softer  sense,  and  from  transmitting  the  curse 
to  posterity,  consists  in  the  valiant  exercise  of  Try,  and  thereby 
so  completely  charging  every  drop  of  }Tour  blood  with  health ; 
and  how  to  do  that  is,  throw  physic  to  the  dogs, — but  they'll 
have  none  of  it,  sensible  brutes  !  —  and  address  yourself  to 
the  sole  business  of  crystallizing  within  you  a  triple  portion  of 
right-down  honest,  manly,  womanly,  noble,  unselfish,  self- 
restraining  human  love,  right  out  of  the  heart,  from  the  floors 
of  the  soul.  A  child  born  of  sickly  parents,  in  whose  hearts 
love  is  a  mountain,  forgets  to  bring  disease  with  him  when  he 
comes  here  from  God  to  gladden  the  faces  of  men  ;  and  he,  or 
she,  is  born  with  many  foes  perhaps,  but  with  one  powerful 
friend,  not  easily  discouraged,  in  the  shape  of  a  good  constitu- 
tion !  —  a  friend  who  will  stick  by,  and  be  right  side  forward 
when  most  needed. 

Most  children  are  accidents.  What  then  ?  Why,  be  ever  on 
the  safe  side,  nor  run  the  chance  of  such  "  accidents,"  unless 
soul,  body,  mind,  and  morals  be  in  such  a  normal  state  that  none 
but  good  results  can  follow.  No  one  on  God's  earth  has  the 
right  to  run  the  risk  of  a  bad  accident.  Enough  said  on  that 
point,  —  a  word  to  the  wise  is  sufficient.  If,  on  the  contrary, 
love  be  ignored,  denied,  cast  aside,  and  its  counterfeits  be 
encouraged  and  cherished,  and  their  forces  only  be  brought  into 
play, —  as  is,  alas,  too  often  the  case  in  these  da}?s, —  and  married 
people  go  on  in  the  present  style,  giving  criminals  and  monsters 
to  the  world,  instead  of  healthful  offspring,  —  children  whose 
chief  end  will  be  the  bringing  of  gray  heads  with  sorrow  to  the 
grave,  why,  whose  fault  is  it? 

The  great  lesson  of  life  is  self  denial  —  the  accrement  of 
temptation-resistant  power.  Few  successfully  learn  it.  Civ- 
ilized mankind  are  very  weak.  We  swear  to  "go  and  sin  no 
more,"  and  ten  to  one  we  straightway  go  and  sin  ;  and  then, 
when  sorrow  comes,  and  the  music  must  be  paid  for,  feel  sorry, 
whine  a  little,  forget  all  about  it,  do  it  over,  burn  our  fingers  — 
and  repent  again !  We  start  out  on  a  pleasure-voyage,  hoping 
we  shall  be  able  to  visit  all  the  pleasant  lands  on  the  sea  of 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  141 

life  ;  we  put  a  blind  man  on  the  lookout,  and  a  fool  at  the 
helm  ;  we  never  once  look  aloft  to  see  how  the  wind  blows,  or 
to  note  the  signs  of  the  weather ;  we  are  seldom  on  deck,  but 
our  time  is  passed  down  below,  in  the  pleasant  business  of  play- 
ing pleasure-cards  ;  we  take  a  trick  or  two  and  smile  at  our 
luck,  wholly  forgetting  that  our  bitter,  though  smiling  foe  — 
moral,  social,  physical,  mental,  affectional  bankruptcy  —  holds 
all  four  aces,  three- kings,  two  queens  and  every  knave,  ready  to 
table  them  against  us  and  sweep  the  board  whenever  it  suits 
him  so  to  do  !  And  still  on  goes  the  losing  game,  until  at  last 
the  bark  strikes  the  rocks  ;  we  are  ashore  on  the  island  of  Used- 
upness,  the  game's  up,  we  are  played  out  —  and  that's  the  way 
the  queer  thing  works  ! 

Said  the  "  Chicago  Republican,"  "  Lo,  the  poor  Indian,  whose 
untutored  mind  devotes  itself  to  trapping  the  bounding  cricket 
and  chasing  the  angle-worm  to  his  native  lair  in  the  sublime 
fastnesses  of  Puget  Sound,  has  taught  us,  the  heirs  of  all  the 
ages,  a  lesson  !  The  moment  that  one  noble  savage,  baser  than 
all  his  tribe,  becomes  the  father  of  twins,  he  is  torn  from  his 
young  barbarians,  all  at  play,  placed  in  a  canoe,  with  a  shingle 
and  earth-worm  sandwich,  and  turned  adrift  on  the  river,  a 
Malthusian  scape-goat.  For  three  months  he  roams  the  woods, 
an  exile  from  his  home.  The  consequence  is,  that  the  popula- 
tion is  kept  down.  The  Zoozoo  Mynnggpoo  tribe  of  Caffres 
have  also  developed  a  high  standard  of  civilization.  No  sooner 
has  one  of  their  number  wedded  the  sable  Dulcinea  of  his 
choice  than  the  face  of  his  mother-in-law  is  to  him  taboo.  If 
he  gazes  upon  her,  'twere  better  that  he  had  met  the  strong 
glare  of  Medusa.  The  consequence  is,  that  matrimony  is  not 
over-frequent,  or,  that  if  a  man  does  wed,  he  selects  the  first 
favorable  opportunity  of  staining  the  arid  sands  of  the  desert 
with  the  blood  of  his  mother-in-law-  "Will  the  great  American 
nation  permit  itself  to  be  outdone  in  boldness  by  the  squalid 
son  of  the  Squally ainish,  or  a  benighted  Zoozoo  from  Afric's 
sunny  fountains  ?     We  trow  not." 

That  would  be  rather  rough  on  the  mothers-in-law,  but  a  great 
many  of  them  are  so  inconsiderate  of  a  husband's  rights  and  a 


142  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

wife's  duty  as  to  render  home  a  hell  to  both ;  and  while  the 
author's  love  for  mothers-in-law  is  not  of  the  desperately  ardent 
kind,  his  pity  for  their  dupes  and  victims  is  so.  And  yet  here 
and  there  is  to  be  found  one  truly  a  mother  in  every  holy  and 
excellent  sense  of  the  word.  God  bless  all  such !  And  still 
another  —  the  Son-in-Law  :  — 

"He  stood  on  his  head  on  the  wild  sea-shore, 
And  danced  on  his  hands  a  jig ! 
In  all  his  emotions,  as  never  before, 
A  madly  hilarious  grig. 

"  And  why?     In  that  vessel  which  left  the  bay 
His  mother-in-law  had  sailed 
To  a  tropical  country  some  distance  away, 
Where  tigers  and  serpents  prevailed. 

"  He  knew  she  had  gone  to  recruit  her  health 
And  doctor  her  rasping  cough ; 
But  wagered  himself  a  profusion  of  wealth 
That  something  would  carry  her  off. 

"  Oh,  now  he  might  look  for  a  <miet  life, 
And  even  be  happy  yet, 
Though  owning  no  end  of  neuralgical  wife, 
And  up  to  his  collar  in  debt ! 

"  For  she  of  the  specs  and  curled  false  front, 
And  the  black  alpaca  robe, 
Must  pick  out  a  sailor  to  suffer  the  brunt 
Of  her  next  daily  trial  of  Job. 

"  He  watched  while  the  vessel  cut  the  sea, 
And  bumpishly  upped  and  downed, 
And  thought  if  already  she  qualmish  could  be 
He'd  consider  the  edifice  crowned ! 

"  He'd  borne  the  old  lady  through  thick  and  thin, 
Till  she'd  lectured  him  out  of  breath ; 
And  now,  as  he  gazed  at  the  ship  she  was  in, 
He  howled  for  her  violent  death,  — 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND    MARRIAGE.  143 

1 '  Till  over  the  azure  horizon's  edge 
The  bark  had  retired  from  view, 
When  he  leaped  to  the  crest  of  a  chalky  ledge, 
And  pranced  like  a  kangaroo. 

"  And  many  a  jubilant  peal  he  sent 

O'er  the  waves  which  had  made  him  free ; 
Then  cut  a  last  caper  ecstatic,  and  went, 
Turning  somersaults,  homeward  to  tea." 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  difference  between  species  is  only  a  difference  in  the 
arrangement  of  particles ;  and  the  difference  between  human 
beings  is  nothing  more,  nothing  less !  Thus  in  a  line  is  solved 
the  problem  of  the  ages,  —  one  that  has  probably  called  forth 
more  brain-effort  than  any  other  in  natural  history,  and  led 
Darwin  to  astound  the  world  of  letters  with  his  "  Origin  of 
Species."  The  differences  between  people  are  only  the  differences 
of  sounds.  People  don't  understand  each  other,  especially 
lovers  and  married  ones,  and  they  won't  take  the  trouble  to  try 
to,  and  so  get  by  the  ears,  and  quarrel  and  part  and  make 
fools  of  themselves,  merely  because  their  ears  don't  interpret 
sounds  alike.  One  won't,  or  don't,  understand  what  the  other 
means.  Now  love  is  a  sound  that  all  do  not  interpret  alike. 
;'I  love  you,"  said  John  to  Joanna;  "will  you  have  me?" 
"Yes!"  A  little  while  afterward  Joanna  said,  "If  that  is 
love,  I  want  no  more  of  it !  It  may  be  love  down  below,  but 
certainly  can't  be  among  the  angels  !  "  "What  a  pity  words  are 
distorted  by  the  sounds  that  express  them ! 

Satiety  in  a  natural  marriage  is  not  possible;  true  love  is 
inexhaustible.  But  then,  true  love's  major  element  is  com- 
mon sense  —  which  is  quite  uncommon. 

To  a  husband :  Be  delicate,  sir ;  never,  never,  expose  her  in 
any  way.  Even  in  the  dreadful  hour  of  childbirth  remember 
this.     Procure  a  female  doctor.     Never  call  a  male  until  the 


144  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

last  hope  is  nearly  gone.  If  she  lives,  she  will  love  j'ou  all  the 
better  for  your  kind  consideration. 

To  a  lover :  Women  that  are  the  least  bashful  are  not  un- 
frequently  the  most  modest ;  and  we  are  never  more  deceived 
than  when  we  would  infer  a  laxit}'  of  principles  from  that  free- 
dom of  demeanor  which  often  arises  from  a  total  ignorance  of 
vice. 

Love  may  exist  without  jealousy,  although  this  is  rare ;  but 
jealousy  may  and  does  exist  without  love,  and  this  is  common. 

Though  sometimes  small  evils,  like  invisible  insects,  inflict 
pain,  and  one  little  single  hair  may  stop  a  vast  machine,  yet 
the  chief  secret  of  comfort  lies  in  not  suffering  trifles  to  vex 
one,  and  in  prudently  cultivating  an  undergrowth  of  small 
pleasures,  since  very  few  great  ones,  alas !  are  let  on  long 
leases. 

When  a  woman  speaks  with  contempt  of  the  opinions  of  the 
world,  it  argues  in  her  neither  good  feeling,  cleverness,  nor  true 
courage.  True  courage  (in  a  woman)  consists  in  at  once  giving 
up  what  may  be  agreeable  and  innocent  in  itself,  rather  than 
risk  having  one's  good  name  called  in  question. 

How  difficult  it  is,  with  the  best  intentions,  for  a  woman  who 
lives  in  the  world  to  steer  entirely  clear  of  suspicion  or  misrep- 
resentation, unless  there  exists  between  herself  and  her  hus- 
band a  frank  and  cordial  understanding  ! 

Every  man  knows  the  height  of  virtue  to  which  he  may 
attain ;  but  no  man  can  anticipate  the  depth  of  depravity  to 
which  he  may  fall.     Singeth  a  poet :  — 

"  Love  me,  love  me  while  you  may, 
Take  the  love  I  bring  to-day, 

Plead  not  for  to-morrow ; 
So  warm,  so  bright,  so  near,  so  high, 
It  is  the  sun  that  gilds  the  sky ; 

Cloud  it  not  with  sorrow. 

"  Shall  my  lips  refuse  thy  kiss, 
Though  its  deep,  exquisite  bli' 
Fade  the  moment  after? 


WOMAK,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  145 

Storms  arise  and  clouds  may  lower, 
Shall  the  earth  refuse  its  dower, 
Joy,  and  light,  and  laughter  ? 

"  Then  take  the  love  that's  mine  to  give, 
I  know  not  if  it  may  outlive 

The  rainbow's  fleeting  splendor ; 
But  well  I  know  this  heart  is  warm 
As  any,  quick  to  meet  the  storm, 

And  full  as  soft  and  tender. 

"  But  if  our  love  should  fade  away, 
We'll  hold  it,  like  an  April  day ; 

Its  glory  still  remember. 
And  ne'er  be  weak  enough  to  sigh, 
As  oft  we  pass  each  other  by, 

For  roses  in  December." 

The  entire  being  is  dependent  upon  the  condition  of  the  love- 
system  of  either  sex.  As  previously  stated,  so  now  the  asser- 
tion is  repeated,  that  the  love-element  —  the  fine  fluid-liquid, 
liquid-fluid,  elaborated  in  the  manner  so  frequently  alluded  to, 
is  in  very  truth  the  genitive  part,  the  fountain  of  life,  primum 
vivens,  ultimum  moriens;  is,  in  fact,  the  very  material  and 
fountain  whence  arises  all  power,  mental  and  physical,  that  man 
possesses,  while  embodied  here  below. 

Well,  there  are  cases  constantly  occurring,  wherein,  from 
causes  needless  here  to  specify,  persons  of  either  sex  become 
wholly  sapped,  worn  out,  exhausted,  depleted  ;  and  as  a  matter 
of  course  such  persons  run  to  a  physician,  expecting,  and 
vainly,  relief  from  that  source.  Now,  if  instead  of  resorting  to 
medicines  such  persons  would  drink  and  eat  purely  protoplas- 
mic food,  eschewing  condiments,  wines,  and  all  excitants,  but 
especially  taking  to  the  richer  cereals  in  natural  shape,  with  due 
attention  to  bathing,  lifting,  chest-expanding,  self-slapping, 
bending,  twisting,  deep-breathing,  the  result  would  be  an 
extraordinary  recovery.  This  advice  is  especially  applicable  to 
pale,  thin,  delicate  women,  and  to  sedentary,  nervous  men.  With 
their  physical,  will  also  revive  their  lost,  or  deadened  affectional 


146  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

powers,  and  into  their  souls  will  flow,  along  with  health  into 
their  bodies,  a  peace  which  almost  passeth  understanding. 

The  functions  of  the  distinct  special  organization  of  both 
sexes  are  nearly  identical.  The  human  being  probably  comes 
originally  from  God  as  a  monad,  down  to  the  male  (speaking 
of  the  nrystery  —  soul)  ,  passes  to  the  brain  centre,  clothes 
itself  from  the  substance  of  his  spirit;  passes  thence  to  the 
prostate;  there  remains  until  it  finds  another  garment — the 
minute  head  of  a  zoosperm,  in  the  ultimate  rite  of  incarnation. 
Up  to  this  instant  its  life  is  nascent,  and  though  it  be  now 
ivasted,  it  can  never  be  destroyed;  but,  escaping  its  thrall,  again 
becomes  a  free  monad,  floating  about  in  open  space,  until  it 
again  becomes  incarnate,  and  finally  achieves  the  end  for  which 
Eternal  God  designed  it.  Up  to  a  certain  point,  then,  its  life  is 
negative  ;  but  at  the  very  instant  it  —  the  monad  —  comes  in 
contact  with  the  divine,  immortal  point  concealed  in  every 
female  ovum,  its  life  becomes  positive,  and  whosoever  then 
destroys  it,  after  the  mother-force  has  once  fairly  closed  upon 
it,  is  a  murderer  !  —  and  so  the  writer  hereof  pronounces  in 
the  awful  presence  of  Almighty  Truth  herself!  —  a  murderer  — 
just  as  certainly  as  if  a  knife  were  used  to  deprive  a  grown 
human  being  of  his  or  her  life. 

So  much  for  that  point ;  now  for  another.  It  is  no  rare  thing 
to  find  both  men  and  women  in  whom  love  and  love-power  are 
either  wholly  dead,  or  wrapt  in  such  profound  slumber  that  the 
thunders  of  Sinai  would  be  powerless  to  wake  them  from  it.  It 
need  not  be  said,  for  the  fact  is  patent,  that  such  fearful  results 
are  the  legitimate  effects  of  false,  lonely,  excessive,  or  inverted 
modes  of  life  and  habit.  Such  a  man,  or  such  a  woman,  while 
in  sueh  an  atonic  state,  count  but  as  mere* pawns,  and  poor  ones 
at  that,  in  the  great  chess-game  of  actual  social  life.  A  female 
thus  conditioned  —  Heaven  pity,  and  God  bless  and  help  her  ! — is 
not  herself  at  all,  —  is  but  the  mere  semblance  and  unsubstan- 
tial shadow  of  what  her  form  represents.  To  her  love  is  the 
seventh  sealed  book  ;  nor  has  such  a  woman  any  more  actualiz- 
ation of  what  love  really  means,  than  has  an  unborn  child. 

In  consequence  of  this  connubial  iciness,  this   chronic  con- 


WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  147 

gelation  of  love  on  the  part  of  a  husband,  a  condition  and  state 
of  things  by  no  means  rare,  many  a  wife  has  had  bitter  cause  to 
rue  the  day  she  ever  spoke  the  words,  "  I  will,"  —  which  really 
was  sentencing  herself  to  disease,  disaster,  despair,  desolation, 
and  death  —  five  d's — bad  ones,  and  in  consequence  of  the 
same  condition  on  the  part  of  a  wife,  full  many  a  man  has  been 
rendered  unhappy,  and  finally  supremely  miserable,  because  his 
wife  is  an  utter  stranger  to  the  slightest  conjugal  reciprocit}*. 
Fruitage  :  Disgust  on  one  side,  distempered  feelings  on  the 
other.  The  cure  :  TRY  to  overcome  the  condition.  How  ?  By 
rules  already  laid  down  herein. 

Of  course  it  does  not  lie  within  the  province  of  this  book  or 
its  author's  present  design,  nor  comport  with  the  dignity  of  his 
present  intention,  to  enter  more  fully  than  has  been  done,  into 
a  discussion  of  the  physiological  reasons  for,  nor  the  hygienic 
treatment  of,  such  states,  for  those  special  topics  lie  outside  the 
current  object ;  however,  physicians,  and  indeed  any  one  else 
who  desires  to  learn  a  s}'stem  of  medical  treatment  adapted  to 
cases  originating  in  amative  causes,  are  at  liberty  to  correspond 
with  him  on  that  subject  —  and  that  only.  Let  this  be  known, 
nevertheless,  that  the  author  considers  that  not  the  slightest  de- 
gree of  confidence  whatever  is  to  be  placed  in  any  one  of  almost 
innumerable  statements  and  fine-spun  quack-theories  of  the 
matter,  so  numerously  championed  in  these  days  of  medical 
fraud  and  philosophic  empiricism  ;  but  the  healing  of  all  such 
life-troubles  must  be  applied  mainly  from  within,  never  wholly 
from  without.  Suffice  it  then  to  say,  that  he  or  she,  no  matter 
whom,  who  suffer  unrest  from  the  pauses  here  hinted  at  as  deli- 
cately as  possible,  must  look  almost  wholly  to  themselves  for 
power  to  overcome  the  great  obstacle  to  their  happiness  ;  for 
there,  and  there  only,  can  it  be  found,  maugre  all  that  un- 
principled quack-nostrum  venders,  whether  within  or  without 
the  pale  of  "  medical  respectability,"  may  urge  to  the  contrary. 
Of  course  reference  is  here  made  solely  to  those  cases  which 
are  the  result  of  mental  and  aflectional  causes,  and  not  to  those 
which  wholly  originate  in  a  physically  impaired  chemistry  of 
the  human  body,  reacting  upon  the  human  mind,  for  of  course 


148  •  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

the  two  are  neither  equal,  parallel,  or  extirpable  by  identical 
means. 

Young  men,  ay,  and  men  old  enough  to  know  better,  are, 
as  a  general  thing,  in  these  days,  in  love  affairs,  altogether  too 
fast.  Many  a  girl  and  woman  has  been  frightened  out  of 
marriage  by  the  excessive  animalism  of  their  gallants,  for  lovers 
they  are  not  worthy  to  be  called.  Such  persons  lose  sight  of 
the  principal  charms  of  woman  in  the  mere  idea  of  sex  alone ; 
they  are  eaten  up  with  wild  ideas  and  mad  desire,  in  con- 
sequence of  which  they  totally  forget  that  a  steady  dignity  of 
the  mind  and  demeanor  can  alone  counterbalance  the  extreme 
action  of  any  of  the  passions,  especially  the  one  of  which  we 
at  present  treat.  The  great  mass  of  people  seem  to  be  unaware 
that  a  pure  and  perfect  love  cannot  exist  in  one  who  is  filled 
with  the  fires  of  mere  physical  ardor,  or  in  a  heart  that  has 
lost  the  true  and  meek  dignity  of  innocence,  manliness,  and 
truth ! 

The  large  volume  preceding  this  one,  on  the  same  subject, 
"  Love  :  its  Hidden  History  !  and  the  Master  Passion,"  by 
the  same  author,  has  had  a  large  circulation,  and  as  the  writer 
allowed  his  address  to  be  printed  in  it,  a  great  deal  of  corre- 
spondence was  the  consequence.  And  now,  on  this  very  day, 
just  as  the  preceding  page  was  written,  the  mail  brought  one 
letter,  among  others,  so  touching  in  its  eloquence,  so  fresh  from 
an  injured  and  suffering  woman's  heart,  and  so  very  apropos 
to  the  phase  of  love  now  under  discussion,  that  —  the  identity 
of  the  fair  writer  and  mailing-place  being  kept  secret  and 
sacred  —  the  impulse  to  print  it,  word  for  word,  cannot  be  re- 
sisted. It  is  but  one  of  a  thousand  of  the  same  import  re- 
ceived by  the  author  of  this  work,  and  if  its  publication  shall 
put  even  one  pure  and  trusting  woman  on  her  guard,  or 
awaken  the  conscience  of  some  man  as  he  stands  upon  the  de- 
batable land,  —  honor  on  one  side  and  errant,  impulsive  in- 
justice on  the  other,  —  and  cause  him  to  nobly  be  a  Man  and  do 
Right,  the  purpose  of  its  insertion  in  these  pages  will  have  been 
served.  The  letter  tells  its  own  sad  story  without  any  ad- 
ditional explanations  whatever :  — 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  149 

"B e,  July  6th,  1871. 

"  Dear  Sir  :  —  I  beg  pardon  for  again  intruding  on  your 
time.  I  have  just  read  the  concluding  pages  of  '  Love '  and 
the*'  Master  Passion,'  and,  with  a  heart  thrilling  with  grateful 
emotion,  offer  my  sincere  thanks  to  the  author  of  those  pages 
for  what  he  has  written. 

"  I  have  loved  and  suffered  deeply,  and  it  is  sweet  to  know 
that  one  man  recognizes  the  truth  that  love  is  something  more 
than  refined  sensuality,  —  that  a  woman's  life,  hopes,  happi- 
ness, her  all  is  ever  laid  on  the  altar  of  her  love. 

"  In  this  connection  I  crave  a  few  moments'  indulgence.  In 
the  habit  of  closely  guarding  my  feelings  from  all  observation, 
I  am  forced  to  smile  and  utter  light  words  when  every  nerve  is 
quivering  with  agony.  The  touch  of  sympathy  renders  it  diffi- 
cult to  restrain  this  surging  tide  of  feeling ;  yet  to  none  other 
than  the  author  of  those  pages  would  I,  for  a  moment,  unveil 
my  real  feelings.  "While  reading,  an  almost  irresistible  desire 
seized  me,  to  dive,  for  once,  deep  into  human  S3rmpath3^.  But 
what  I  could  tell  of  the  real  joy  and  sorrow  of  life  would  fill  a 
volume.  I  know,  by  experience,  there  are  heights  of  bliss  and 
depths  of  anguish  in  the  human  heart,  an  infinite  God  alone 
can  fathom. 

"  The  fault  with  me  is,  nature  gave  me  intense,  acute,  and 
powerful  feeling,  with  only  the  ordinary  capacity  of  self-goAr- 
ernment.  When  I  wrote  to  you  first,  I  was  half  maddened  by 
days  of  torture,  and  nights  of  sleepless  pain,  and,  to  have 
obtained  any  trace  of  my  absent  friend,  or  reached  his  side,  I 
would  have  trampled  down  every  barrier  that  pride,  conven- 
tionality, or  reason  could  oppose.  I  know  now  that  he  is  safe  ; 
that  his  silent  absence  is  voluntary,  and  all  that  is  left  to  me 
now  is  the  bitter  task  of  crushing  out  the  love  that  for  a  few 
brief  weeks  made  life  so  bright  and  beautiful,  that,  as  I  look 
back,  the  days  seem  linked  in  golden  bands. 

"  You  tell  me  '  the  sweets  of  one  successful  and  happy  love 
will  more  than  balance  the  account.'  That  is  a  dream  of  bliss, 
that  will  never  be  realized.  If  any  act  of  mine  can  make  one  I 
love  happier,  and  I  am  not  denied  the  presence  dearer  than  all 


150  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

else  on  earth,  this  is  all  of  happiness  for  which  I  dare  to  hope. 
I  do  not  believe  I  ever  awakened  a  genuine  thrill  of  love  in  my 
life,  such  as  would  satisfy  the  demands  of  my  nature,  and  were 
I  unfortunately  linked  to  one  who  gave  me  nothing  more  {ban 
I  have  ever  yet  received,  it  would  torture  me  to  death  or  mad- 
ness. And  yet  I  have  been  happy ;  but  it  was,  as  Hoyt  says, 
'  an  hour  of  bliss,  an  age  of  pain.'  Yet  even  this  is  far  better 
than  not  to  love  at  all.  I  must  love,  though  I  can  never  be 
beloved  ;  for  it  is  not  ouly  more  to  me  than  all  else  in  life,  but 
life  itself.  The  tones  of  a  loved  voice  send  the  warm  blood 
bounding  through  every  artery ;  the  touch  of  a  loved  hand 
thrills  every  nerve  with  electric  power ;  earth  seems  bathed  in 
glory,  and  heaven  itself  so  near.  Give  me  love,  and  though 
every  other  earthly  blessing  be  denied,  life  would  be  divine  ; 
deny  me  this,  and  Omnipotence  can  give  me  no  equivalent.  In 
the  thought  of  life  without  love,  there  is  a  sense  of  utter  desola- 
tion for  which  language  has  no  expression 

"  Respectfully, ." 

Not  being  able  to  copy  the  above  letter  himself,  the  author 
handed  it  to  a  male  friend,  who  kindly  did  so,  at  the  same  time 
requesting  him  to  give  his  opinion  of  the  writer  of  it,  —  the  man 
who  wronged  her,  —  and  the  subject  generally.  He  did  so  ;  and 
here  is  exactly  what  he  wrote :  — 

"  The  purposes  of  Providence  are  worked  out  in  wondrous 
ways.  The  most  painful  event  in  any  life  may  rear  the 
eminence  from  which,  with  a  clearer  vision  we  may  look  out  upon 
beauties  never  dreamed  of  else,  reveal  passions,  depths,  and 
longings,  that  but  for  it  would  have  never  thrilled  our  souls. 

"  Such  experiences  as  this  woman  has  realized  are  but  too 
frequent ;  and  my  heart  trembles  as  I  think  of  the  intensity  of 
the  agony  to  one  so  finely  Strang,  so  sensitive.  "Would  that 
there  were  a  scarcity  of  the  soulless  monsters  who  pride  them- 
selves upon  such  victories ! 

"  A  great  principle  is  vividly  impressed  upon  my  mind  by 
this  lady's  letter ;  i.  e.,  that  Love  is  the  natural  and  the  sole 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  151 

object  and  principle,  the  only  thing  in  life,  both  present  and 
future.  It  is  the  supreme  passion  ;  all  others  are  secondary  and 
auxiliaiy,  and  become  morbid  and  perverted  in  proportion  to 
its  absence  from  the  throne  of  the  human  soul.  It  is  soul  it- 
self; it  is  God  in  us,  and  only  a  serpent  that  has  dragged  his 
slimy  length  from  Eden  to  the  gates  of  this  true  and  womanly 
heart  can  wound  it.  It  does  not  die,  it  is  immortal.  There  are 
many  calling  themselves  men,  simulating  what  may  have  once 
entitled  them  to  that  name,  so  far  and  successfully  imitating 
and  personifying  an  ideal  manhood,  that  showing  themselves  to 
women  who,  like  this  one,  have  hearts,  become  at  once  the 
objects  of  a  homage  due  only  to  the  noblest  work  of  God,  —  an 
honest  man. 

"  These  monsters,  by  various  transformations  and  processes, 
come  gradually  to  be  what  they  are.  They  are  recruited  from 
that  large  class  of  transient  persons  who  move  from  place  to 
place,  travelling  men,  agents,  drummers  for  mercantile  houses. 
These  persons  have  no  character  to  maintain,  as  they  do  not 
stop  long  enough  in  one  place  to  make  it  necessary.  They  take 
their  primary  lessons  from  older  members  of  the  fraternity,  and 
from  a  certain  class  of  mediums  of  both  sexes.  Beware  of  all 
persons  who  have  long  been  free  from  the  influence  of  a  home 
and  its  restraints, —  the  hordes  who  live  in  furnished  lodgings  and 
dormitories  of  large  cities  and  towns  on  the  European  plan ! 
Beware  of  all  who  shirk  the  duties  of  life  and  society,  for  they 
gratify  their  perverted  passions  at  the  pain  of  those  who  unfor- 
tunately have  not  a  vigorous  protection  to  shield  them  from  the 
advances  of  villains  emboldened  by  success  an  hundred  times ! 

"At  last,  these  conscienceless  libertines  fester  upon  the  hard 
pallet  of  a  hospital,  the  charitj'  of  the  civilization  they  have 
outraged.  No  sweet  and  loving  accents  lull  the  roar  of  the 
waters,  no  kind  and  loving  hand  smooths  the  hard  pillow  — 
no  !  they  are  dead  long  ago.  Lips  that  would  have  spoken  kind 
words  of  hope,  hands  that  would  have  borne  them  up,  are  silent, 
cold,  and  palsied,  deserted  by  them  long  ago  ;  and  the}'  die, 
looking  for  love  and  tenderness  into  the  face  of  a  hired  male 


152  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND  MARRIAGE. 

attendant.     God  pity  and  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what 
they  do!  T.  H.  C." 

Haflz,  the  poet-king  of  Iran,  has  left  some  very  suggestive 
verses  behind  him,  and  these  being  patent  to  the  issue  shall  be 
now  reproduced  ;  and  here  let  it  be  said,  once  for  all,  that  the 
specious  sophistry  of  these  lines  is  identical  with  the  foul  stuff 
foisted  on  the  people  of  these  current  days,  all  championed  as 
Divine  truth,  under  various  names,  as  for  instance,  "  The  Schema- 
tive  Inorganicoid  Aggregationalisms  "  of  "  Pantarch  "  Andrews  ; 
whereas,  in  reality,  each  one  is  a  fanged  and  deadly  serpent,  lying 
concealed  therein,  just  exactly  as  one  unquestionably  is  coiled  up 
in  every  line  of  Hafiz.  The  man  or  woman  who  listens  to  or 
believes  such  monstrous  folly  is  lost.-  For  it  is  by  just  such 
wily  devilism  as  the  Persian's  that  the  modern  "  Pantarchism," 
"Free  Love,"  and  "Passional  Attraction"  infernalisms  seek 
to  undermine  public  morals  and  private  virtues  in  the  phil- 
anthropic endeavor  to  re-form  society,  and  establish  social  order, 
by  making  every  man  a  libertine,  and  every  woman  a  name- 
less thing !  The  best  thing  to  do  with  such  re-formers  is  to  clap 
them  in  lunatic  asylums,  or  let  them  serve  their  age  and  gene- 
ration by  picking  oakum,  or  cutting  stone  behind  the  bars  of 
county  jails,  or  better  still,  State  Prison ;  because  such  people 
when  really  honest  are  insane  ;  when  not  so  they  are  villains  of 
unmistakable  dye  and  calibre.  Let  us  quote  from  their  Persian 
high  priest,  who  thus  sings  :  — 

"  What  bliss  is  like  to  whispering  love, 
Or  dalliance  in  the  bowers  of  spring? 
Why,  then,  delay  my  bliss  to  improve  ? 
Haste,  haste,  my  love,  the  goblet  bring. 

"  Each  hour  that  joy  and  mirth  bestow, 

Call  it  treasure,  count  it  gain ; 

Fool  is  the  man  who  seeks  to  know 

His  pleasure  will  it  end  in  pain ! 

M  The  links  which  our  existence  bind 
Hang  not  by  one  weak  thread  alone ; 


woman;  zofe,  akd  marriage.  153 

Of  man's  distress  why  tease  the  mind? 
Sufficient  'tis  we  know  our  own. 

"  The  double  charms  of  love  and  wine 
Alike  from  one  sweet  source  arise, 
Are  we  to  blame,  shall  we  repine, 
"When  unrestrained  the  passions  rise? 

"If  innocent  in  heart  and  mind, 
I  sin,  unconscious  of  offence, 
What  use,  O  Casuist,  shall  I  find 
In  Absolution's  recompense  ? 

"Hermits  the  flowing  spring  approve ; 
Poets  the  sparkling  bowl  enjoy; 
And  till  he's  judged  by  powers  above, 
Hafiz  will  drink  and  sing  and  toy !  " 

"  Ay,  by  my  faith,"  he  might  have  added,  "  and  so  will 
everybody  else  as  well  as  Hafiz,"  so  long  as  mankind  is  as 
morbid  as  we  now  find  it,  —  which  undoubtedly  is  a  great  deal 
more  so  than  in  the  far-off  days  of  its  ruonkej'-ape  ancestry, 
living  on  trees  and  sleeping  in  caves.  As  the  species  lives  to- 
day it  laughs  at  the  laws  of  its  own  making,  and  in  amative 
matters  does  just  about  as  it  pleases,  and  all  despite  my  good 
lord  cardinal  red,  green  or  blue,  priest  or  penalty,  judges,  justice, 
or  Boston  juries,  statute  laws,  rules,  regulations,  moral  codes, 
and  everything  else  besides.  And  why?  Because  it  is  human 
nature  to  do  so ;  perverted  human  nature  truly,  but  human 
nature  still.  The  question,  therefore,  among  people  of  common 
sense  at  all  events,  is,  not  how  we  shall  put  a  forcible  stop  to 
"  illicit  amours,"  for  we  can't  stop  them,  try  as  we  may  ;  the 
world  has  been  essaying  that  enterprise  these  last  ten  thousand 
years,  leaving  off  just  where  it  began  the  work,  and  not  one 
inch  further.  The  reason  is  that  civilized  (?)  man  is  wild, 
silly,  crazy,  suicidal,  and  unhealthy  in  respect  to  his  affections, 
and  just  as  long  as  the  evil  is  uncorrected  from  the  very  founda- 
tion, just  so  long  will  the  trash  foisted  on  the  people  by  ranting 
radicals,  as  divine  science,  be  accepted  as  reformative  gospel ; 
and  until  men  begin  the  work  of  self-restraint  and  redemption 


154  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

will  such  stuff  as  Hafiz  wrote,  and  radicals  and  amazons  pro- 
claim and  defend,  be  regarded  as  true  poetry,  and  accepted  as 
genuine  revelation.  But  the  question  is,  how  shall  we  get  over 
the  difficulty  in  the  easiest  and  safest  way?  It  is  of  no  use  to 
send  a  boy  to  State  Prison  because  he  is  caught  in  a  brothel. 
You  must  first  remove  the  brothel,  and  you  can't  do  that  until 
you  change  the  action  of  a  certain  little  phrenological  organ 
situated  at  the  nape  of  the  neck  of  the  Body  Politic ! 

How  shall  we  discipline  this  universal  organ  of  amativeness 
so  that  it  shall  not  run  riot  in  the  land,  first  making  harlots, 
then  establishing  brothels  near  every  populous  centre,  and  then 
building  prisons  and  houses  of  correction  for  its  own  victims  ? 
Bah  !  The  self-righteousness  of  legislators  offends  the  nostrils 
not  only  of  God  and  angels,  but  of  any  honest  man !  The 
question  of  greatest  moment  to  us  is,  how  shall  we  so  disci- 
pline and  train  this  unruty  amativeness,  so  as  to  offend  the 
fewest,  and  benefit  the  many,  help  along  the  cause  of  the  truest 
civilization,  and  conduce  to  the  best  interests  of  the  wide,  wide 
world  ?  That's  the  question  !  That's  the  problem  of  the  age, 
one,  too,  that  has  puzzled  the  world  for  centuries,  and  yet  one 
that  can  be  solved  in  twenty  lines ;  ay,  half  the  number. 
Thus  :  Prove  to  an}r  one  that  interest,  self-interest,  has  been,  is, 
and  ever  will  be,  the  policy  of  men  and  nations,  —  a  very  easy 
task  with  plenty  of  illustrations  all  around  us,  —  then  show 
them  that  virtue  is,  and  ever  was,  the  highest  interest  of  every 
human  being.  Do  this,  and  forthwith  your  work  is  done,  and 
harlotry  goes  by  the  board.  This  question  must  be  met  and 
solved  b}'  the  logic  of  facts  and  the  principles  of  plaiu  equity, 
and  genuine,  non-subtle  common  sense  ;  which,  after  all,  is  a 
great  deal  better  fruit-bearer,  of  the  right  kind,  than  all  the 
grand  and  splendid  sciento-philosophic  trees  that  ever  were 
planted  or  grew  ;  for  their  apples  are  pretty  to  look  at,  but  most 
accursedly  crabby  when  partaken  of. 

There's  a  fearful  deal  of  cant  and  double-distilled  hypocrisy 
in  the  world  to-day  in  regard  to  vice  and  virtue,  but  more  con- 
cerning their  names  than  their  principles,  —  for  people  do  a, 
mighty   number   of    things    to    please   themselves,    without   a 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  155 

thought,  which  they  -wouldn't  be  charged  with  by  their  names 
for  the  world.  For  instance  :  The  law-books  tell  us  the  crime 
of  rape  is  the  forcible  possession  of  an  unwilling  victim,  the 
just  punishment  for  which,  in  some  places,  is  death,  and  in  all 
long  terms  of  imprisonment.  Now  suppose  all,  or  even  half, 
of  those  who  are  guilty  of  it,  should  be  accused,  tried,  and  con- 
victed, what  a  sight  of  married  women  —  millions  —  would  be 
husbandless  for  many  a  long  year !  And  yei  with  how  great 
vigor  is  this  amatoiy  sin  denounced,  just  as  if  actual  crime  were 
sometimes  more,  sometimes  less,  blamable,  or  less  a  violence 
than  stealing,  cheating,  taking  ten  cents  when  six  only  are  due, 
and  a  hundred  others  which  are  not  denounced  half  so  strenu- 
ously, nor  taken  advantage  of  by  the  very  denouncers  of  this 
sin  of  concupiscence.  The  fact  is,  wrong  is  wrong,  whatever 
shape  it  takes  ;  and  there  are  but  two  divisions  to  crime  of  any 
sort:  One  leads  to  murder,  i.  e.,  the  injury  of  others  ;  and  the 
second  leads  to  suicide,  i.  e.,  the  injury  of  ourselves ;  and  it  is 
futile  to  attempt  any  reformation  that  does  not  begin  with  our- 
selves first.  True,  the  work  belongs  to  society ;  but  then, 
society  is  but  an  aggregation  of  separate  individuals.  It 
scarcely  does  to  fight  one  sin  in  detail,  and  let  the  rest  grow ; 
to  cut  down  the  thistles  and  leave  the  other  weeds  alone ;  to 
abjure  one  sin,  and  practise  all  the  others. 

Society  is  muddy  all  over,  inside  and  out.  It  needs  a  thor- 
ough overhauling  from  top  to  bottom  ;  that  is  to  say,  we  each 
for  ourselves  must  begin,  prosecute,  and  complete  the  work  in 
every  personal  case,  and  stop  cursing  and  blaming  others  till 
we  do. 

It  is  painful  to  people  of  correct  thinking  to  witness  the 
social  depravity  of  our  times.  They  are  all  made  sad  by  hear- 
ing others  —  thousands  of  them  —  making  such  an  ado  about 
marital,  social,  and  other  ills,  yet  practically  doing  nothing  to 
stem  the  torrent,  or  alter  the  condition  of  things.  We  all  have 
an  abiding  belief  in  virtue,  and  pay  devout  homage  to  it,  when 
clothed  in  linen  and  fine  purple,  but  are  very  often  unable  to 
see  it  when  arrayed  in  linsey-woolsey,  or  worse  gear. 

There  is  an  acceptation  of  the  term  virtue  in  vogue  repulsive 


156  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

to  a  true  man,  especially  when  applied  to  all  women  indiscrimi- 
nately ;  for  a  woman  in  these  days,  hemmed  in  by  poverty,  may 
be  forced  for  dear  life  to  do  the  wrong  thing ;  and  others  still, 
by  conglomerate  circumstance,  by  the  dire  stress  of  influences 
congenital  and  otherwise,  over  which  she  has  no  control  what- 
ever, may  do  things  that  in  man's  sight  are  sinful,  but  which 
are  not  wholly  so  in  the  eye  of  the  omnipotent  God  !  Ay,  or  in 
that  of  an  honest  man  or  true  woman.  Go  to !  Let  him  or 
her  who  is  without  sin  cast  the  first  stone  !  If  they  do,  but  few 
will  be  bruised ! 

Doubtless  the  reader  has,  ere  this,  clearly  defined  the  differ- 
ences between,  and  noticed  the  interchange  of,  the  physiologi- 
cal and  the  soul  love.  Both  can  and  do  exist,  and  act  sepa- 
rately ;  but  only  when  they  move  together  like  a  beautiful  pair 
of  milk-white  coach-horses  in  double  harness,  do  they  amble  us 
along  the  bright  gleaming  roads  on  the  happy  side  of  life. 
Such  results,  such  a  play  of  the  double  forces  of  love,  can  never 
be  hoped  for,  reached,  or  experienced  outside  of  monogamic 
marriage  ;  for  howsoever  content  a  man  may  be  in  double  union, 
or  pluralism,  or  with  one  mistress  only,  there  is  always  a 
chronic  spice  of  brimstone  in  the  cup  of  life  ;  ever  and  always 
some  nameless  longing  and  discontent ;  nor  can  his  joy  ever 
reach  the  height  it  would,  had  that  sacred  ceremony  been  per- 
formed ;  for  it  enables  him  to  look  the  world  plump  and 
squarely  in  the  face,  unabashed,  and  also  in  the  mirror,  when 
he  shaves,  behold  the  beauties  of  an  honest  man  !  If  he  has 
children,  it  is  a  sweet  morsel  to  roll  under  his  tongue,  —  the  con- 
sciousness that  they  will  not  pass  through  the  world  branded 
with  the  dreadful  name,  bastard  ;  for  however  keen  and  smart 
such  offspring  may  be,  and  notoriously  are,  it  sounds  better  to 
have  that  word  unknown  with  respect  to  them ;  besides  which, 
by  the  very  fact  of  their  keenness,  such  people  suffer  dread- 
fully at  the  stigma,  and  their  inability  to  respect  the  mother 
who  bore,  and  the  father  who  begat  them ! 

No  man  can  respect  a  mistress  !  The  thing's  impossible ;  no 
matter  how  charming,  talented,  or  beautiful  she  may  be,  the 
first  prime  element  of  solid  happiness  is  wanting !  •  A  mistress' 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    A\rT)    MARRIAGE.  157 

joy  is  ever  a  fevery  one,  for  she  is  conscious  that  her  tenure 
of  possession  is  a  very  slender  one,  liable  to  be  snapped  asunder 
by  the  slightest  strain,  or  burnt  in  twain  by  the  first  pair  of 
bright  eyes  that  may  chance  to  flash  out  their  fire  upon  him  as 
he  passes  by ;  hence  the  life  of  a  place  is  a  life  of  constant  un- 
easiness, incertitudes,  and  excitements.  Not  so  with  an  honest 
wife ;  for  whatever  storms  may  blow  she  commands  and  holds 
the  esteem  of  all  the  world ;  for  her  wifehood,  if  not  herself, 
receives  the  undivided  respect  of  the  entire  human  race,  of  all 
religions  and  of  all  lands ;  while  the  known  strumpet  is  by  all 
and  everywhere  despised,  no  matter  how  high  she  carries  her 
head ;  for  in  that  regard  the  mistress  of  an  emperor  is  on  a 
common  level  with  the  outcast  leman  of  a  butcher-boy. 

A  nation's  greatness  depends  upon  the  individual  virtues  and 
nubile  strength  of  its  separate  constituents,  —  upon  those  of 
its  people  who  are  under  forty  years  of  age  ;  for  before  that  age 
they  are  parents  of  the  next  generation,  or  are  not  so  at  all. 
Now  the  main  element  of  vigor  and  virtue  in  any  nation  is  that 
necessarily  resulting  from  amative  purity ;  for  just  as  soon  as 
morals  decay  in  that  direction  in  the  masses,  the  fall  of  that 
nation  is  not  far  off.  Witness  ancient  Egypt,  Babylon,  Greece, 
Rome,  Carthage,  all  of  which  went  to  irremediable  ruin  as  a 
direct  consequence  of  social  disorder  in  matters  of  sex.  Among 
modern  nations  the  United  States  were  shaken  to  their  very 
centre  by  the  tremendous  reaction  against  human  slavery, 
whose  worst  features  were  associated  directly  with  sex  matters, 
—  rape,  concubinage — forced  at  that!  —  non-marriage,  and 
violent  breakage  of  domestic  ties,  topped  off  with  brutal  usage, 
public  sales  of  fair  women  for  base  purposes,  and  often  crowned 
with,  incest,  —  against  all  of  which  the  human  heart  revolted,  and 
the  thing  was  brought  to  an  end  in  fire  and  blood  ;  whereby 
human  nature  vindicated  its  better  side  ! 

Treating  of  this  very  subject,  in  this  very  phase  of  it,  an 
article  here  quoted  from  the  Bothwell,  Canada,  "Saturday 
Review,"  in  a  paper  on  "  Rome  before  the  Caesars,"  says  :  — 


158  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

"It  is  a  dreadful  picture,  —  the  picture  of  Italy  under  the  rule  of  the 
oligarchy.  Morality  and  family  life  were  treated  as  antiquated  things 
among  the  ranks  of  society.  To  be  poor  was  not  merely  the  saddest  dis- 
grace and  the  worst  crime,  but  the  only  disgrace  and  the  only  crime.  For 
money  the  statesman  sold  the  state  and  the  burgess  sold  his  freedom ;  the 
post  of  the  officers  and  the  vote  of  the  jurymen  were  to  be  had  for  money; 
for  money  the  lady  of  quality  surrendered  her  person,  as  well  as  the  com- 
mon courtesan ;  perjuries  and  falsifying  of  documents  had  become  so 
common  that  in  a  popular  part  of  this  age  an  oath  is  called  the  '  plaster 
for  debts.'  Men  had  forgotten  what  honesty  was  ;  a  person  who  refused  a  • 
bribe  was  regarded,  not  as  an  honest  man,  but  as  a  personal  foe. 

"But  while  at  the  bottom  of  national  life  the  slime  was  thus  constantly 
accumulating  more  and  more  deleteriously  and  deeply,  so  much  the  more 
smooth  and  glittering  was  the  surface  overlaid  with  the  varnish  of  polished 
manners  and  universal  friendship.  All  the  world  interchanged  visits ;  and 
in  the  houses  of  quality  it  was  necessary  to  admit  the  persons  presenting 
themselves  every  morning  for  the  levee,  in  a  certain  order  fixed  by  the 
master  or  the  attendant  in  waiting,  and  to  give  audience  only  to  the  more 
notable,  one  by  one,  while  the  rest  were  more  summarily  admitted,  partly 
in  groups,  partly  in  a  body,  at  the  close.  The  interchange  of  letters  of 
courtesy  was  carried  on  to  as  great  an  extent  as  the  visits  of  courtesy. 
The  genuine  intimacy  of  family  ties  and  family  friendships  had  so  totally 
vanished  from  the  Rome  of  that  day,  that  the  whole  intercourse  of  business 
and  acquaintance  could  be  garnished  with  its  forms  and  flourishes,  which 
had  lost  all  meaning,  and  thus,  by  degrees,  real  friendship  became  super- 
seded by  that  spectral  shadow  of  friendship  which  holds  by  no  means  the 
least  place  among  the  various  evil  spirits  brooding  over  this  age. 

"An  equally  characteristic  feature  in  the  brilliant  decay  of  this  period 
was  the  emancipation  of  women.  In  the  economic  point  of  view,  the 
women  had  long  since  made  themselves  independent.  In  the  present  epoch 
we  even  meet  with  solicitors,  acting  especially  for  women,  who  officiously 
lend  their  aid  to  the  solitary  rich  ladies  in  the  management  of  their  prop- 
erty and  their  lawsuits,  make  an  impression  upon  them  by  their  knowledge 
of  business  and  law,  and  thereby  procure  for  themselves  ampler  perquisites 
and  legacies  than  other  loungers  on  the  exchange.  But  it  was  not  merely 
from  the  economic  guardianship  of  fathers  or  husbands  that  women  felt 
themselves  emancipated.  Love  intrigues  of  all  sorts  were  constantly  in 
progress.  The  ballet-dancers  were  a  match  for  those  of  the  present  day 
in  the  variety  of  their  pursuits  and  the  skill  with  which  they  followed  them 
out.  Their  prima  donnas  pollute  even  the  pages  of  history.  But  their, 
as  it  were,  licensed  trade  was  very  materially  injured  by  the  free  art  of  the 
ladies  of  aristocratic  circles.  Liaisons  in  the  first  houses  had  become  so 
frequent  that  only  a  scandal  altogether  exceptional  could  make  them  the 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  159 

subject  of  special  talk.  A  judicial  interference  seemed  now  almost  ridic- 
ulous. The  watering-place  season,  when  political  business  was  suspended 
and  the  world  of  quality  congregated  at  Baiai  and  Puteoli,  derived  its  chief 
charm  from  the  relations,  licit  and  illicit,  which  along  with  music  and  songs 
and  elegant  breakfasts  on  board  or  on  shore  enlivened  the  gondola  voyager. 
There  the  ladies  held  absolute  sway ;  but  they  were  by  no  means  content 
with  this  domain  which  rightfully  belonged  to  them ;  they  also  acted  as 
politicians,  appeared  in  party  conferences,  and  took  part  with  their  money 
and  their  intrigues  in  the  wild  coterie  proceeding  of  the  time. 

"  Any  one  who  beheld  these  female  statesmen  performing  on  the  stage 
of  Scipio  and  Cato,  and  saw  at  their  side  the  young  fop,  as  with  smooth 
chin,  delicate  voice  and  mincing  gait,  with  head-dress  and  neckerchiefs, 
frilled  robes  and  enormous  sandals,  he  copied  the  loose  courtesan,  might 
well  have  a  horror  of  the  unnatural  worlds  in  which  the  sexes  seemed  as 
though  they  wished  to  change  parts.  What  ideas  as  to  divorce  prevailed 
in  the  circles  of  aristocracy  may  be  discerned  in  the  conduct  of  their  most 
moral  hero,  Marcus  Cato,  who  did  not  hesitate  to  separate  from  his  wife  at 
the  request  of  a  friend  desirous  to  marry  her,  and  as  little  scrupled  on  the 
death  of  this  friend  to  marry  the  same  wife  over  again.  Celibacy  and 
childlessness  became  more  and  more  common,  especially  among  the  upper 
classes.  While  among  those  marriage  had  long  been  regarded  as  a  burden 
which  people  took  upon  them  as  the  best  in  the  public  interest,  we  now 
encounter  even  in  Cato  and  those  who  shared  Cato's  sentiments,  the  maxim 
to  which  Polybius  a  century  before  traced  the  decay  of  Hellas,  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  a  citizen  to  keep  great  wealth  together,  and  therefore  not  to 
beget  too  many  children. 

"Inconsequence  of  such  a  social  condition  the  Latin  stock  in  Italy  * 
underwent  an  alarming  diminution,  and  its  fair  provinces  were  overspread 
partly  by  parasitic  immigrants,  partly  by  sheer  desolation.  Large  numbers 
of  Roman  natives  immigrated,  and,  as  a  compensation  for  these,  Italy 
obtained  on  the  one  hand  the  protectorate  of  slaves  and  freedmen,  on  the 
other  hand  the  craftsmen  and  traders  nocked  there  from  Asia  Minor, 
Syria,  and  Egypt. 

"There  was  nothing  to  bridge  over  or  soften  the  fatal  contrast  between 
the  world  of  the  beggars  and  the  world  of  the  rich.  The  more  clearly  and 
painfully  this  contrast  was  felt  on  both  sides,  the  giddier  the  height  to 
which  riches  rose,  the  deeper  the  abyss  of  poverty  yawned;  the  more  fre- 
quently amidst  that  changeful  world  of  speculations  and  playing  at  hazard, 
were  individuals  tossed  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  and  again  from  the  bot- 
tom to  the  top.  The  wider  the  chasm  by  which  the  two  worlds  are  exter- 
nally divided,  the  more  completely  they  coincide  in  the  like  annihilation 
of  family  life,  which  is  yet  the  germ  and  core  of  all  nationality,  in  the  like 

*  Vide  the  same  stock  in  modern  France. 


160  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

laziness  and  luxury,  the  like  unsubstantial  economy,  and  the  like  unmanly 
dependence,  the  like  corruption  differing  only  in  its  scales,  the  like  demor- 
alization of  criminals,  the  like  longing  to  begin  the  war  with  property. 
Riches  and  misery  in  close  league  drove  the  Italians  out  of  Italy,  and 
filled  the  peninsula  partly  with  swarms  of  slaves,  partly  with  awful  silence." 


CHAPTER  XI. 

The  world  of  Intellect  is  in  labor  to-day,  and  the  sweet  child 
now  being  born  is  to  be  a  new  power  in  the  lands.  Its  father  is 
Science,  its  mother  is  true  Philosophy,  its  mission  is  Real 
Reform.  Both  parents  have  erewhile  made  a  great  bluster  and 
pretension.  Each  has  in  turn  asserted  a  great  deal,  promised 
more,  and  achieved  less,  until  at  last,  like  a  very  wise  couple, 
they  have  abandoned  talk  in  a  great  measure,  and  gone  to  work 
in  real  earnest.  Common  Sense  is  its  name,  and  is  the  grand 
result  to  be.  People  are  getting  weary  of  platitudes,  and  are 
hungry  for  real  food. 

This  has  been  called  the  age  of  Gold,  Silver,  and  Iron,  by  turns. 
We  choose  to  call  it  the  age  of  Brass,  — for  certainly  the  "  Phi- 
losophers "  have  proved  it  so,  —  and  that  not  a  few  of  them  have 
striven  to  prove  it  the  age  of  "Tin"  is  demonstrated  b}r  the 
fact  that  just  as  soon  as  their  exchequers  have  been  well  stocked, 
their  "  philosophy  "  suddenly  collapsed  and  demised.  Loudly 
have  scores  of  "  Reformers  "  talked  about  bettering  the  condi- 
tion of  the  people,  yet  how  much  better  off  are  these  self-same 
people  to-day?  A  few  3>-ears  ago  we  were  told  that  "Free 
Love"  was  the  thing  to  make  people  happy.  But  are  these 
people  half  as  happy  now  as  they  were  before  they  accepted 
that  doctrine,  and  run  the  chances  of  a  tremendous  experiment? 
We  fear  not,  and  have  said  so ;  but  the  ever-ready  answer  is : 
"  The  experiment  has  not  yet  been  fairly  tried.  Wait  till  it  is, 
and  then  decide.  Yourself  may  have  suffered  from  this  thing  — 
yea,  have  seen  men  and  women  apparently  ruined  by  it ;  but 
these  are  exceptional  cases.     Wait  a  while  and  we  will  show 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  161 

you  magnificent  results."  "Well,  perhaps  it  is  so ;  but  this 
writer  does  not  believe  a  word  of  it.  Let  us  patiently  await  the 
"  results,"  we  shall  see  what  we  shall  see  !  ...  At  present 
we  have  strong,  rather  strong  objections  to  seeing  our  daugh- 
ters, or  wives,  or  our  friend's  wife  and  daughter,  members  of, 
—  well,  never  mind,  —  we'll  skip  the  hard  words  just  dropping 
from  the  pen. 

Unquestionably,  all  things  considered,  we  are  now  living  in 
the  very  midst  of  the  greatest  social,  moral,  and  political  revo- 
lution the  world  has  ever  seen.  Around  us,  on  all  sides,  the 
signs  of  the  times  proclaim  this  fact,  and  the  crumbling  ruins 
of  human  folly  are  rapidly  disappearing,  one  by  one,  but 
surely.  The  dust  of  the  debris  partially  blinds  many  of  us ; 
but  presently  the  clear  breezes  of  rationality  will  spring  up  :  we 
will  then  see  clearer  than  we  now  do,  and  among  other  things 
that  we  shall  behold  in  the  new  and  cryptic  light,  with  clarified 
vision,  will  be  the  general  subject  we  are  now  discussing, 
namely,  the  love  and  marriage  questions  in  all  their  bearings, 
both  "  legal"  and  "  illicit,"  or  in  wedlock  and  out  of  wedlock. 
We  shall  then  discuss  the  themes,  void  of  prejudice,  and  solely 
on  their  own  integral  merits. 

Old-fogy  notions  of  all  sorts,  sizes,  shapes,  and  kinds,  that 
have  long  usurped  the  popular  throne,  are,  somehow  or  other, 
growing  smaller  by  degrees  and  beautifully  less.  Presently, 
they  will  all  quietly  fall  to  pieces  and  to  earth,  and  on  their 
former  sites,  in  men's  minds,  shall  be  upbuilded  true  ideas  of 
human  life  and  human  justice.  The  Temple  of  the  true  God 
shall  yet  be  builded  of  human  hearts,  and  therein  shall  the 
Supreme  be  daily  worshipped,  —  the  Temple  of  moral,  mental, 
affectional,  and  physical  health.  Till  this  comes  to  pass,  and 
at  best  it  is  slow  work,  we  must  wait,  and  in  good  deeds,  and 
rightful  thinking,  ever  pray. 

The  jewel  of  life  is  health,  and  there  can  be  no  health,  either 
of  body,  mind,  morals,  or  affection,  if  the  digestive  and  other 
organs  of  either  sex  be  so  deranged  as  to  vitiate  their  secre- 
tions. 

We  have  been  told  by  certain  teachers,  that  love  is  in  no  wiso 


162  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE. 

connected  to,  associated  with,  or  influenced  by,  passional  desire. 
These  teachers  are  both  right  and  wrong,  —  right,  when  they 
elevate  the  sentiment  of  friendship,  and  call  it  love  ;  wrong, 
when  they  confound  the  amicive,  or  friendly,  feeling  with  the 
amative  passion.  Affection  is  an  attribute  of  the  soul  per  se, 
and  is  altogether  independent  of  magnetic  attraction,  personal 
appearance,  sex,  or  condition.  Intensifications  of  friendship 
probably  constitute  the  rapturous  bliss  of  the  souls  in  heaven. 
Love  is  the  attractive  chord,  chain,  substance,  which  connects 
the  two  universal  sexes  together,  and  of  them  constitutes  one 
grand  unity,  Man.  It  is  entirely  different  from  that  other 
thing,  which  binds  together  persons  of  the  same  gender.  Illus- 
tration :  A  eunuch  is  notoriously  capable  of  the  grandest, 
deepest,  most  intense,  and  self-abnegating  friendship,  but  is 
totally  incapable  of  feeling  love,  for  the  reason  that  the  surgical 
process  of  neutralization  has  also  cut  away  his  manhood  in 
nearly  every  conceivable  sense,  and  thereby  laid  an  eternal 
interdict  on  all  loving,  so  far  as  woman  is  concerned.  The 
entire  normal  action  of  his  soul  and  body  is  utterly  lost,  and  in 
no  conceivable  sense  can  he  change  the  food  and  drink  he  takes 
into  these  forceful  and  vivific  elements  and  auras,  whose  pres- 
ence in  a  real  man  is  the  sign  of  power.  The  mighty  element, 
on  whose  presence  in  man  depends  much  of  the  soul  love- 
power  of  human  kind,  cannot  be  elaborated  from  his  provender 
by  him  in  any  degree  whatever ;  nor  can  his  organic  structure 
change  the  material  already  in  it,  to  its  higher,  aeriform,  and 
ethereal  state,  in  which  form,  in  whole  men,  it  pervades  the 
body,  and  gives  the  energy,  manliness,  grace,  fortitude,  beauty, 
pathos,  and  nobility,  which  characterize  the  full,  true,  healthy 
man,  or  gallant  youth.  In  consequence  of  his  irremediable 
injury,  the  unfortunate  being,  thus  murdered,  becomes  com- 
pletely emasculated  in  spirit  as  well  as  body ;  his  voice 
changes  from  a  manly  bass  or  baritone  to  a  high  and  sharp  fal- 
setto-squeak, or  to  a  rough  and  harsh,  grating  sound,  resembling 
nothing  on  earth,  in  the  air  or  sea,  but  itself.  His  manliness, 
and  manfulness  as  well,  take  flight  never  more  to  return  ;  his 
animal   or   brutal  nature  increases  ;  misanthropy  grows  apace  ; 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  163 

generosity  takes  wing,  except  when  he  conceives  that  wonderful 
liking  for  a  single  person,  which  in  a  measure  redeems,  and 
keeps  him  within  the  human  pale.  The  eunuch's  bones  become 
knobby,  his  flesh  flabby,  skin  loose,  puttyish,  and  his  person 
exhales  an  almost  iusufferable  odor,  requiring  daily  ablutions 
to  keep  him  bearable  at  all.  The  most  unconscionable  scoun- 
drels in  the  streets  of  Cairo  and  Stamboul  are  the  eunuchs, 
made  so  on  purpose  to  keep  them  honest,  in  one  direction  at 
least. 

Now,  be  it  known,  that  your  regular  rake,  and  out-and-out 
libertine,  —  philosophic,  scientific,  or  religious,  —  (a  la  Perfec- 
tionists of  the  John  H.  Noyes  school  in  America,  and  the 
Agapemonites  of  Britain),  —  all  those  who  fancy  that  the  grati- 
fication of  unbridled  lust  constitutes  the  summum  bonum  of 
human  bliss,  after  a  short  career  become  first,  moral,  then  in- 
tellectual, and,  finally,  by  early  excess,  a  sort  of  physical 
eunuchs  as  well ;  and  all  such  manage,  after  a  few  years,  to 
make  themselves  a  hell-bed,  whereon  they  must  inevitably  writhe 
in  this  life,  and  that  which  many  of  us  feel  is  yet  to  come. 
Look  at  your  fast  man  after  ten  years  of  "fancy  life"  and  if  a 
more  loathly  and  forbidding  human  wreck  can  be  found,  where 
shall  we  look  for  it  ? 

No  matter  what  speculators  may  assert  to  the  contrary, 
physical  desire  is  an  ingredient  in  the  love  which  every  man 
bears  toward  woman  ;  nor  is  that  love  worth  much  that  is  di- 
vested thereof.  Who  would  believe  the  man  who  should  say  he 
loved  a  female,  not  his  own  blood  relative,  in  whom  the  amative 
element  was  not  active  ?     No  one. 

A  woman  instinctively  knows  a  man,  even  in  a  crowd, 
whose  love  and  loving  nature  is  round  and  full.  A  man  recog- 
nizes a  woman,  meet  her  where  he  may,  who  is  healthy,  sound, 
complete,  and  full  in  the  love-element  of  human  nature,  and  each 
does  respectful  homage  to  the  other.  Now  all  this  is  plain  and 
simple,  and  results  from  the  mutual  recognition  of  the  other's 
ability  to  impart  and  receive  a  purely  human  bliss  (and  by  no 
means  a  merely  animal  gratification),  in  their  social  relations, 
and  in  the  ways  and  walks  of  virtuous  life,  such   as  is  con- 


164  WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

sequent  upon  the  pure,  spontaneous,  harmonious,  and  magnetic 
blending  of  healthful  souls,  through  the  effluence  of  pure  and 
healthful  bodies. 

The  man,  who  can,  but  will  not,  render  due  respect,  affection, 
and  homage  to  the  woman  deliberately  chosen  as  bis  wife,  a  man 
whose  nature  is  so  perverted  that  he  cannot  mingle  with  other 
women  without  losing  his  self-respect  and  desiring  to  debase 
them,  and  who  neglects  his  wife  for  others,  has  discovered 
the  express  route  to  damnation  and  utter  ruin  !  —  has  found  out 
the  speediest  method  to  bury  all  of  heaven  and  raise  a  dreadful 
hell  beneath  his  roof-tree ;  and  the  wife  who  can,  yet  fails  to 
give  of  will  as  well  as  word,  to  the  lord  of  her  choice,  will  not 
tarry  long  for  the  pleasure  of  knowing  that  she  has  half  driven 
her  husband  from  her  fireside,  to  seek  for  solace  —  where  the 
poor  fool  can  never  find  it  if  be  looks  a  hundred  centuries  —  in 
a  wanton's  ready  arms  ! 

Diseased  morals,  brains,  heads,  hearts,  intellects,  and  passions 
abound  wherever  civilization  has  opened  its  marts  or  erected  its 
standards,  and  nowhere  else.  If  human  progress  means  the 
advancement  of  science,  art,  literature,  and  international  traffic, 
then  we  of  Christendom  have  progressed  immensely ;  but  if  it 
means  the  advancement  of  human  happiness,  why,  then  —  so 
far  —  the  writer  is  unable  to  "  see  it."  We  have  lots  of  meta- 
physics, —  which  means  physics  in  a  mist,  —  and  lots  of  other 
sorts  of  physic,  but  still  suffering  abounds  ;  nor  will  transcen- 
dentalism —  vague  and  flickering  taper  at  best  —  at  all  illumine 
us  as  to  the  reason  why  happiness  has  not  kept  pace  with 
material  advancement.  We  are  bored  to  death  with  long  rig- 
marole platitudes  about  the  "  conflict  of  the  ages,"  in  the  vain 
endeavor  to  account  for  the  wide-spread  devilment  of  all  sorts 
now  rampant  through  the  world ;  just  as  if  Tom  and  Betsey 
cared  a  fig  about,  or  were  at  all  affected  in  their  personal  in- 
terests by  all  the  conflicts  of  all  the  ages  !  Their  own  squabbles 
and  conflicts  are  what  interest  and  disturb  them;  and  how 
to  end  them  finally  is  the  thing  the  aforesaid  Tom  and  Betsey 
•want  most  to  find  out.  There  are  a  good  many  Toms  and 
Betseys  in  the  world  ! 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  165 

The  philosophers  have  written,  and  quarrelled,  and  squab- 
bled, and  talked,  until  we  are  sick,  about  the  "  Origin  of  Evil," 
and  the  cure  of  it.  They  have  explained  it  so  very  clearly 
that  we  are  just  in  the  precise  spot,  and  degree  of  knowledge 
on  the  subject,  that  the  world  was  forty  centuries  ago !  The 
fact  is,  that  the  explanation  of  this  "  evil "  mystery,  as  usual, 
was,  and  is,  to  be  found  right  under  the  noses  of  those  far-see- 
ing and  very  sage  people,  who,  in  strict  accordance  with  their 
old  bent,  are  forever  taking  the  longest  way  about  for  the 
shortest  way  home  ! 

The  moral,  or  immoral  tone,  or  habits  of  a  man,  woman, 
community,  or  nation,  depend  upon  physical  causes  almost 
entirely,  such  as  climate,  locality,  geographical  position,  the 
form  of  food,  houses,  nature  of  the  clothing  worn,  the  degree  of 
recreation,  amusements,  the  water  drank,  the  quantity  of  stim- 
ulants, tea,  coffee,  wine,  beer,  and  a  thousand  other  physical 
things,  all  of  which  act  or  react  normally,  or  otherwise,  upon 
the  bodily  organs,  especially  the  amative  ;  and  the  conditions, 
healthful  or  otherwise,  of  these  organs  must  react  upon  the 
mental,  moral,  and  social  man.  Facts  are  stated,  facts  that  any 
one  can  see ;  and  these  go  further  towards  settling  the  ques- 
tions of  free  will,  chance,  destin}r,  morals,  and  religion,  than 
all  the  hyper-physical  or  metaphysical  stuff  ever  printed  or 
hatched  in  the  brains  of  lonely  students  in  pent-up  chambers, 
redolent  with  burning  lamp  oil  —  excuse  us  !  kerosene  !  — just 
such  chambers  as  that^  wherein  the  untravelled  philosopher 
evolved  a  camel  from  the  depths  of  his  own  consciousness,  he 
never  having  seen  the  animal ;  precisely  as  other  philosophers 
evolve  a  system  of  love  and  other  social  ethics,  without  ever 
having  experienced  anything  of  the  sort,  or  having  been  there, 
or  knowing  how  it  is  themselves. 

In  a  previous  work  the  present  author  asserted,  and  now  re- 
affirms, that  no  man  can  be  perfectly  virtuous  in  an  unclean 
under-garment,  for  even  the  lowest  man  walking,  or  the  most 
wretched  troll  wandering  the  streets  in  search  of  human  flies, 
entertains  a  higher  opinion  of  themselves  when  dressed  up ; 
while  the  biggest  blackguard  in  the  shire  feels  elevated  to  the 


166  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

pitch  and  possibility  of  good  and  virtuous  deeds,  and  high  and 
noble  thoughts,  under  the  inspiration  resulting  from  a  cold  bath 
and  fresh  linen.  Deduction :  the  moral  tone  of  a  community, 
depends  upon  the  health  or  unhealth  of  the  digestive  and  other 
organs,  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  vital  apparatus  of  the  indi- 
viduals comprising  the  community.  Why  ?  Because  individuals 
make  up  society,  societies  make  up  the  nation,  and  the  nations 
give  form  and  tone  to  the  ages.  Rome  fell  because  her  people 
became  licentious,  sensually  corrupt.  Modern  Roines  are  fol- 
lowing in  the  same  old  wake.     So  be  cautious,  noble  Romans ! 

Once  let  the  vital  apparatus  mainly  concerned  in  love  and  its 
offices  and  missions  be  disordered,  even  slightly,  and  the  whole 
system,  mental,  moral  and  physical,  will  quail  and  tremble 
beneath  the  spell,  just  as  surely  as  that  one  and  one  do  not 
make  twelve.  When  they  are  badly  deranged,  torpid,  or  un- 
duly active,  the  tower  of  human  nobility  and  strength  —  social, 
domestic,  moral  and  physical  —  inevitably  begins  to  crumble 
and  topple  over  towards  the  fast  accelerating  fall.  We  suffer 
often  when  we  ought  to  enjoy  ;  we  languish,  when  we  ought  to 
thrive  and  be  happy  ;  we  are  —  Americans  especially  —  too  ex- 
citable, nervous,  anxious ;  and  have  as  a  general  thing  seen 
more  of  life,  lived  longer,  in  fact,  at  forty  years,  than  Methu- 
saleh  did  when  his  last  year  was  ended.  Very  few  people  in 
civildom,  old  or  young,  male  or  female,  are  healthy.  Most  of 
us  have  a  failing,  a  weak  spot,  — morally,  pl^sically,  intel- 
lectually or  affectionally  ;  nor  can  we .  enjoy  life  unless  these 
failings  are  overcome,  which  cannot  be  unless  by  the  grace  of 
God  and  practical  common  sense,  —  aided,  abetted  and  assisted 
by  —  soap,  —  not  the  soft  sort !  but  good,  hard  old  Windsor,  or 
Castile  —  applied  with  a  crash  towel  and  flesh-brush —  at  least 
three  times  a  week.  There's  nothing  like  soap  —  to  clean  a 
a  man's  body  —  and  his  morals!  his  epidermis  —  and  his  con- 
science ! 

The  physical  and  moral  continents  of  the  wonderful  world 
called  Man  are  closely  connected.  A  sound  mind  can  dwell  in 
an  unsound  body,  but  only  for  a  season.  Insanity  and  the 
erratic  mental  flights  and  explorations  of  very  much  of  the 


woman;  love,  and  marriage.  167 

modern,  so-called  genius,  is,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  the  result 
of,  or  is  associated  in  both  sexes  with,  derangement  of  the  extra- 
vital  organism,  and  health  can  only  be  restored  by  bringing 
that  back  to  a  moral  condition.  Food  swallowed  is  rapidly  con- 
verted into  chyme,  chyle,  blood,  nervous  fluid  and  various  other 
lymphs,  and  then,  by  action  mysterious  and  wonderful,  into 
nerve-aura. 

In  society,  not  over  one  in  seventy  of  either  sex  but  in  whom 
the  s}Tstem  last  named  is,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  diseased. 
Those  persons  are  the  most  joyous,  healthful,  kind,  Christian, 
affectionate  and  obliging,  in  whom  nerve-aura  is  the  most  pure 
and  abundant ;  while  those  who  are  diseased  in  those  respects 
are  never  healthy  in  any  other  way,  for  this  disordered  state 
eventually  effeminates  the  mind,  and  is  productive  of  vagaries 
and  positive  insanity.  The  loss  or  waste  of  nerve-aura,  beyond 
a  certain  amount,  unmistakably  impoverishes  the  blood  and 
body ;  while  the  unwise  expenditure  of  it  directly  affects  un- 
favorably, not  only  the  active  intellect,  but  the  deathless  soul 
itself.  When  the  system  is  healthy  the  soul  corresponds  ;  if  it 
is  chilled,  fevered,  or  in  any  way  diseased,  they  inevitably  cany 
the  disease  along  with  them. 

It  may  be  —  but  ought  not  —  necessary  to  here  state  that 
those  who  imagine  there  is  but  one  mode,  and  that  the  passional 
one,  of  wasting  life  and  its  essences,  are  wofully  mistaken ; 
perpetual  wakefulness,  too  little  sleep,  wastes  it.  Rum  and 
wine,  beer  and  ale  drinking  to  an  undue  extent,  wastes  it.  Too 
much  mental  labor,  or  physical  either,  wastes  it.  Fretfulness, 
inordinate  and  long-continued  thought,  grief,  sorrow,  —  in  short, 
any  and  all  excess,  of  whatever  possible  variety  or  kind,  are  so 
many  drafts  on  the  bank  of  life  ;  wherefore  it  is  well  to  keep  a 
good  running  account  therein,  for  if  you  don't  your  notes  will 
be  returned  dishonored,  protested  and  endorsed,  No  funds. 

These  secretions  in  the  body  of  the  female  become  pai't  of 
the  body  of  her  future  child,  if  she  conceives,  and  it  is  thus  that- 
transmissions  of  disease  and  other  qualities  are  accomplished. 
Illustration :  A  drunken  man  fathers  a  child,  and  just  as  sure 
as  he  does  so,  the  chances  are  that  the  alcohol  will  in  some  way 


168  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

so  impregnate  his  being  and  his  child,  that  it  will  either  be 
idiotic  or  imperfect,  else  will  come  forth  to  the  world  with  a 
penchant  for  stimulants,  almost  irresistible  ! 

In  normal  life  and  loving,  the  superabundance  of  nerve  aura, 
—  this  most  precious  element,  —  after  undergoing  a  change  from 
the  lymphy  to  an  aeriform  state,  is  sent  along  the  telegraphic 
nerve-system  to  all  parts  of  the  body ;  but  in  greater  volume  to 
the  brain  by  day,  and  to  the  solar  plexus  when  we  sleep,  whence 
it  is  distributed  all  over  the  body,  vivifying  it  and  increasing 
vigor.  Thus  is  verified  the  saying,  that  love  constitutes  the  life 
of  man. 

When  the  health  is  deranged,  this  balm  of  existence,  this 
divine,  human  nerve-life,  is  frequently  wasted,  becomes  acrid, 
sour,  and  poisonous,  not  only  to  the  man  himself,  but  to  the 
unfortunate  woman  who  may  sustain  what  were  otherwise  the 
most  sacred  intimacy  in  wedlock.  A  man  thus  conditioned  is 
no  more  fit  for  the  conjugal  relation  than  an  atheist  is  to  preach 
Christ's  gospel  to  a  sinful  world  !  His  embrace  is  the  embrace 
of  poison  and  of  death,  and  his  very  presence  is  as  potent  for 
disease  and  evil  as  is  the  drop  from  a  cobra's  fang.  Contra- 
wise  ;  suppose  the  wife  to  be  afflicted  in  a  similar  manner,  she 
must  inevitably,  slowly,  it  may  be,  but  surely,  poison  her  hus- 
band, who  contracts  it  by  absorption ;  and  if  she  be  charged 
with  virus,  either  fluid  or  ethereal,  so  much  the  worse  for  him. 
Indeed,  this  sort  of  poisoning  is  a  common  affair  nowada3rs  in 
these  progressive  times ;  and  is  the  prolific  cause  of  four-fifths 
of  the  human  ailments  of  the  civilized  globe ;  people  don't  sus- 
pect it,  but  it's  true,  nevertheless. 

Free  Love  !  No  man  is  free  who  has  not  command  over  him- 
self, but  suffers  his  passions  to  control  him.  The  principal  ex- 
cuse of  the  class  of  persons  who  advocate  promiscuity  is,  that 
not  being  well  mated,  they  are  obliged  to  go  from  home  to  seek 
the  supply  for  which  there  is  a  demand  in  their  souls  (bodies 
rather).  This  is  all  sheer  twaddle  !  Such  folks,  very  imperfect 
themselves,  demand  perfection  in  their  mates.  They  "  don't 
see  it ;  "  hence  logic  and  everything  else  is  twisted  to  suit  their 
turn,  in  the  vain  hope  of  making  themselves  believe  that  their 


WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  169 

erotic  course  is  the  right  one.  Their  morbid  desires  and  spe- 
cial pleadings  are  accepted  as  God's  warrant,  authorizing  a 
woman  to  destroy  any  other  woman's  peace  and  break  up  her 
family,  by  robbing  her  of  her  husband  ;  and  for  any  lecherous 
man  to  do  as  his  debased  nature  may  suggest. 

Not  a  few  people  imagine  their  domestic  difficulties  spring 
from  natural  incompatibility  of  soul ;  a  mal-adaptation  between 
them  whose  only  relief  is  death  or  divorce.  Now,  in  seventy- 
five  cases  of  discord  out  of  every  one  hundred,  such  a  conclu- 
sion would  be  erroneous  ;  for  probably  not  one-fortieth  part  of 
all  the  matrimonial  infelicity  extant  has  a  deeper  seat  than  mere 
physical  ill-health,  which  a  very  little  dose  of  Reasonable  Try 
speedily  cures ;  for  disease  of  the  love-nature  is  sure  to  affect 
the  mind,  religion,  morals,  and  philosophy  of  the  patient, 
quicker,  deeper,  and  more  formidably,  than  ailments  of  any 
other  sort  under  heaven. 

To  the  jaundiced  all  things  wear  a  sickty  3'ellow  hue.  When 
the  heart  is  full  of  love  and  affection,  and  the  body  full  of 
vigor,  all  things  look  serene  and  beautiful.  To  the  victims  of 
false  love  and  falser  marriage-troubles  the  world  seems  clad  in 
indigo  raiment ;  the  male  victim  contemplates,  with  a  sort  of 
wild  satisfaction,  the  various  methods  of  reaching  the  other 
world  by  express  ;  while  to  the  female  sufferer  all  nature  seems 
to  be  one  vast  graveyard,  and  her  life-paths  to  be  strewn  with 
dead  men's  mouldering  bones. 

People  with  livers  chronically  torpid  go  in  for  hell-fire  of  the 
most  approved  grilling  incandescence  ;  not  for  themselves,  but 
for  all  who  have  active  livers,  and  a  good  digestion,  —  who  for 
that  reason  devoutly  believe  in  universal  salvation !  Certain 
sorts  of  revivals  happen  most  frequently  in  regions  where  pork 
is  most  abundant,  and  the  water  comes  from  limestone  deposits. 

Bad  health  is  unfavorable  to  healthy  love  ;  but  then  a  lean 
love  is  better  than  none,  provided  it  be  genuine.  "  Why, 
Sarah !  3rou've  gone  and  married  since  last  I  saw  you  !  But, 
la,  what  a  little  man  you  have  got!"  —  "Yes;  but  then,  you 
see,  a  little  husband  is  a  great  deal  better  than  no  husband  at 


170  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

all ! "     Sensible  Sarah  !     That's  a  poor  specimen  of  humanity 
who  don't  love  somebody. 

The  life  may  be  injured  or  destroyed  in  various  ways  ;  it  may 
be  injured  by  passion,  alcohol,  tobacco,  habitual  acid  or  alka- 
line drinks  ;  strong  tea,  coffee,  diseased  bladder,  womb,  kidneys, 
rectum,  fistula,  and  absolute  continence  and  idleness,  or  excess 
of  any  sort.  Of  course  such  a  tree  must  be  barren  of  the  best 
fruit,  of  whatever  sort  it  maj^  be.  When  a  female  is  thus  abnor- 
mal, the  realization  of  her  dream  of  marriage  must  remain  a 
dream  only  ;  for  although  she  reaches  maternity  she  really  can- 
not tell  how  it  happened  ;  for  to  her  the  fact  was  quite  inciden- 
tal —  as  well  as  accidental  —  poor  thing  !  reaping  the  penalties 
minus  all  the  promised  and  hoped-for  joys.  Let's  count  hands  ! 
"Women,  attention  !  All  you  who  know  how  this  is  yourselves 
hold  up  3rour  right  hands!  One,  two,  five,  —  a  thousand, — 
millions !     Good  God  !  what  a  forest  of  hands  ! 

As  with  woman  so  also  with  man.  He  can  never  be  truly 
great,  so  long  as  in  all  respects  he  is  not  wholly,  truly,  fairly, 
a  genuine  man ! 

Women  are  often  averse  to  yield,  what  only  brutes  claim  as  a 
right.  They  are  not  to  blame.  It  is  the  voice  of  nature  her- 
self protesting  against  murder.  Tenderness  and  attention, 
long-continued  tenderness,  only  can  overcome  this  aversion, 
and  whosoever  resorts  to  harsher  methods  to  gain  an  unwelcome 
sacrifice  is  a  wretch  too  mean  to  exist  among  civilized  com- 
munities. Women  are  often  wretched  in  spirit,  and  sick  in 
body,  worn  clown,  hopeless  and  desponding,  from  the  fact  that 
one  or  both  the  belts  which  sustain  the  principal  organs  of  their 
sex  are  loose  and  relaxed.  This  often  comes  of  unwelcome  in- 
terference at  unwelcome  seasons,  and  he  who  does  it  is  not  a 
husband,  but  a  brute  ! 


WOMAN.   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  171 


CHAPTER  XII. 

A  "  kept  "  woman  never  yet  made  a  home  for  a  man,  for 
home,  in  the  true  and  better  sense,  means  happiness,  and  there 
can  be  none  of  that  in  a  dwelling  where  everything  is  present 
save  the  sacred  and  sanctified  tie,  which  alone  redeems  the 
Union  in  the  eyes  of  true  men  and  women,  because  the  very 
foundation-elements  of  human  justice,  fair  play  for  the  woman 
as  the  man ;  honor,  truth,  respect,  —  all  are  wanting,  are 
wholly  absent  from  any  such  arrangement,  —  in  this  country  at 
least,  whatever  may  be  the  case  in  other  lands,  and  other  places 
of  Christian  civilization.  Even  if  the  place  woman  rolls  in 
unbounded  wealth,  and  has  every  luxury  at  command  which 
heart  could  wish,  still  there  is  bitter  in  her  tea,  and  gall  in  every 
mouthful  she  eats  !  She  is  the  open  scorn  and  butt  of  contempt 
of  her  own  servants,  even  down  to  scullery  maid  and  wash- 
woman, —  and  a  scorn,  too,  so  deep  that  cologne  will  not  wash  it 
out,  for  the  beggar's  wife  thinks  herself  degraded  by  contact 
with  her,  and  the  wife  of  the  lowest  thief  in  Christendom  lolls 
out  her  tongue  as  the  glittering  harlot  passes  by  !  and,  what  is 
worse  still,  she  despises  herself  quite  as  much  as  they  do ;  and 
at  heart  she  feels  a  withering  contempt  for  the  "  man  "  she  pre- 
tends to.,  and  may  really  think  she  loves.  How  can  it  be  other- 
wise, if  she  is  an  intelligent  woman?  How  can  she  do  else,  — 
he  who  disdains  and  refuses  to  make  her  what  every  woman  has 
a  heaven-born  right  to  be  —  an  honest  and  respected  wife  ! 

As  for  the  piece  of  a  man  who  thus  does  violence  to  himself, 
his  leman  and  society,  if  he  thinks  at  all,  he  knows,  as  he  stands 
before  his  mirror,  that  he  beholds  the  image  of  a  contemptible 
scoundrel,  unworthy  of  association  with  decent  people,  because 
self-conscious  of  his  bad  example  ;  his  violation  of  the  first  prin- 
ciples of  manhood  ;  his  injustice  to  the  woman  he  debases  ;  the 
same  with  regard  to  himself,  —  whom  he  knows  to  be  a  bad 
man,  if  not  a  villain,  desperately  engaged  in  undermining,  what 
it  took  all  mankind  to  erect  —  the  edifice  of  social  order.  He 
knows  he  is  the  promoter  and  encourager  of  prostitution  and 


172  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

libertinage,  and  a  direct  enemy  of  God,  nature  and  Human- 
ity. 

As  slie,  in  the  first  intoxication  of  success,  struts  the  streets  in 
glaring  gaud,  and  flaunts  her  fine  feathers  in  the  faces  of  honest 
women,  there  is  often  a  coal  of  fire  in  her  heart  raging  fiercely, 
and  she  would  give  all  her  feathers  and  flummery,  and  be  con- 
tent with  work-woman's  fare,  could  she  but  feel  she  had  the 
innate  respect  that  laboress  commands  ;  for  all  people  rush  to 
the  relief,  comfort  and  sympathy  of  a  wife;  but  all,  save  her 
kind,  and  only  a  few  of  them,  stand  aloof  from  the  courtesan, 
whom  they  may  flatter,  but  whom  they  nevertheless  heartily 
despise. 

As  he  drives  her  about  town  behind  a  fine  span,  he  involun- 
tarily classes  her  in  the  same  list  with  his  horses ;  both  to  be 
used  for  the  present  joy  they  bring ;  for  the  tie  between  them 
being  one  wholly  of  nerves,  pocket-books  and  sense,  it  is  im- 
possible for  him  to  think  otherwise ;  for  notwithstanding  the 
twain  may  be  wildly,  madly  infatuated  with  each  other,  }^et 
there's  not  one  single  spark  of  divine,  or  strictly  human  love 
about  it.  Let  Poverty  seize  him,  and  her  beauty  fade  away, 
and  the  difference  between  "This"  and  "That"  will  very 
quickly  show  itself ;  for  neither  man.  nor  woman  can  be  really 
happy  when  flying  squarely  in  the  face  of  public  opinion,  morals 
and  custom  ;  or  in  a  union  which  either  secretly  or  openly  vio- 
lates the  supreme  law  of  God,  or  those  of  human  morals,  both 
of  which  proclaim  in  thunder  tones,  that  one  man  and  one 
woman,  in  open,  honorable  marriage,  is  the  sole  condition  of 
happiness,  the  true  and  substantial  nucleus  of  the  family,  tribe, 
race,  nation,  and  civilization.  From  the  observance  of  these 
laws,  inherent  in  humanity,  alone  comes  wealth  of  soul  and 
goodness.  Around  such  unions  the  virtues  gather,  and  religion 
grows  apace ;  while  from  their  neglect,  violation,  and  non- 
observance  springs  every  vice  and  crime  which  mars  the  uni- 
versal weal,  fills  all  the  prisons,  and  engenders  all  the  wretched- 
ness on  earth.  Oh,  that  people  would  but  think  of  these  things ! 
They  will  sooner  or  later. 

In  these  days  when  society  is  full  of  fevers  and  chills,  people 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  173 

are  too  careless  in  selecting  their  mates,  for  with  both  sexes 
alike,  person,  good  looks,  and  dress  carry  the  day  ;  while  real 
merit  seldom  determines  the  choice  of  either.  Too  much  atten- 
tion is  paid  to  mere  appearance,  too  little  to  the  substantialities 
of  character  and  moral  worth.  They  mistake  a  fever  for  love, 
and  in  the  whirl  of  their  delirium  settle  matters  with  or  without 
a  ring,  onby  to  be  awakened  presently  to  the  awkward  fact  that 
they  easily  got  into  a  difficulty  very  hard  to  get  out  of  again. 
Then  comes  drinking,  flirtation,  adultery  !  Let  the  curtain  fall ; 
for  the  results  of  this  universal  distemper  of  mistakes,  this 
madness  of  the  mind,  are  too  dreadful  to  contemplate. 

A  word  just  here  on  ante-nuptial  familiarities :  First,  the 
man  who  insists  on,  and  gains  his  point  is  —  aside  from  his 
diabolic  knavery — a  fool,  for  if  he  marries  her  afterward  ten 
chances  to  one  but  that  special  memory  will  be  a  bitter  one  to 
both.  If  he  don't  marry  her,  he  is  both  a  double  thief,  and  the 
spoliator  of  some  other  man's  happiness  ;  beside  obliging  her,  in 
that  case,  to  tell  one  vast  lie,  and  live  it  ever  after  ;  or  tell  the 
truth,  and  have  it  thrown  up  in  her  face  a  hundred  times  a  year. 
In  either  case,  and  to  both  parties,  such  a  false  step  leads  to 
wretchedness  ;  whereas  if  God  and  human  law  first  sanction 
that  familiarity,  the  chances  of  continued  happiness  are  ten  to 
one  in  their  joint  favor  for  the  balance  of  life. 

Ring  in  the  orchestra,  turn  on  the  lights,  shift  the  scenes, 
raise  the  curtain,  and  let  the  audience  witness  another  portion 
of  the  grand  drama  —  Love,  in  all  its  Phases  ! 

People  will,  in  these  days,  as  a  general  thing,  let  us  say, 
peruse  a  book  on  the  ''Perils  of  Incontinence;"  go  to  a 
lecture  against  "Licentiousness"  in  the  evening  ;  will  applaud 
the  speaker  whenever  a  rap  is  delivered  on  the  devoted  head 
of  Amativeness  ;  they  will  leave  the  hall  brimful  of  the  "  dead- 
liest "  virtue,  and  in  less  than  two  hours  thereafter  will  fall 
victims  to  the  first  temptation  — just  as  easy  !  —  merely  by  way 
of  proving  that  human  nature  is  a  queer  sort  of  thing,  and  that 
the  whole  matter  is  governed  by  a  law  outside  of,  and  above, 
ndividual  likings,  longings,  tastes,  volitions  or  resolves  ;  unless 


174  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

and  until  the  man  within  obtains  full  control  of  the  man  without, 
and  by  rigid  self-discipline  has  learned  to  restrain  and  direct 
the  passion-tide,  and  properly  keep  it  within  limits.  But  the 
curtain  is  up,  look  !  See  !  A  husband  has  just  brought  his 
tender  and  virgin  bride  from  the  altar  to  their  home.  The}'  are 
very  joyous,  and  think  themselves  happy,  but  as  yet  have  no 
proper  notion  of  what  happiness  is.  True,  a  heavenly  smile 
plays  in  mischief  among  the  roses  of  Marie's  cheeks,  and  the 
coral  of  her  lips  ;  and  yet,  somehow  or  other,  there  comes  ever 
and  anon  a  furtive  look,  betraying  half  doubt,  half  fear,  and  a 
deeper  crimson  than  a  maiden's  modest  blush  rather  pales  this 
coral  and  these  roses  occasionally,  and  momentarily  overcasts 
the  sunshine.  Why  is  this?  Some  will  sny,  "It  is  the  natural 
result  of  her  new  position  ;  resulting  from  the  modest  maiden's 
entree  on  the  fuller  and  higher  life  of  womanhood  !  "  But  the 
writer  dares  to  say  it  is,  in  nine  cases  in  every  twelve,  no  such 
thing.  It  is  the  deep  intuition  of  her  woman's  soul  pre-war  n- 
ing  her  of  nameless  horrors  yet  to  be  !  Look  at  the  groom.  A 
fine  specimen  of  a  physical  man  ;  full  of  vigor,  blood  and  youth. 
What  fervor  and  what  animation  !  How  earnestly  he  gazes  on 
the  treasure  he  has  brought !  how  very  ardently  he  looks  clown 
into  the  depths  of  her  eyes  !  yet  we  don't  like  the  sort  of  look ; 
there's  a  something  we  cannot  like  about  it.  He  is  all  aglow,  — 
his  breath  is  rather  thick  and  husky  —  has  suddenly  become  so, 
as  he  finds,  or  thinks  he  has,  that  for  the  first  time  since  the 
ceremony  they  are  alone  !  Not  quite  !  for  God  is  there,  though 
the  bridegroom  knows  it  not.  The  solicitude  he  manifests 
smacks  of  something  less  noble  than  true  affection,  and  the 
peculiar  tone  of  his  voice  savors  far  more  of  physical  passion, 
than  of  noble  and  manly  love.  Good-night !  .  .  Good-morn- 
ing, sweet  bride !  We  will  call  in  a  month  to  see  you  as  we 
pass  along  this  way.  .  .  .  Next  month  has  come,  but  all 
her  roses  have  strangely  fled,  alas !  and  fled  forever !  Poor 
girl !  She  fondly  imagined  she  was  about  to  find  a  man  and  a 
husband.  She  has  found  onhy  a  —  brute  !  .  .  .  How  pale 
she  is  ;  her  lithesome,  tripping  gait  has  given  place  to  a  nervous 
Btep.     Evidently  something  is  wrong.     .....     Months 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE.  175 

have  fled.  She  is  enciente  —  but  not  of  the  child  of  her  own 
and  her  husband's  vigor.  Oh,  no !  but  the  immortal  house 
within  her  bosom  is  being  builded  of  the  last  dregs  of  two  ex- 
hausted human  bodies.  .  .  .  Ten  years  have  fled,  and  this 
couple  keep  all  the  time  wondering  why  their  eldest  born  is 
such  a  little,  measly,  nerveless,  scranny,  morbid  child.  They 
are  paying  for  their  folly  in  long  doctor's  bills  ;  and  the  heart- 
wrung  tears  they  both  will  shed  next  month,  as  little  Harry's 
form  is  forever  hidden  by  earth  heaped  on  his  coffin  by  the 
sexton's  friendly  spade,  are  a  portion  of  the  penalty  !  .  .  . 
Come,  let  us  go  up  the  road  —  into  the  village  tavern ;  the 
father  of  the  little  boy  that  died  is  there,  listening  to  the  trial 
before  Justice  Goodman,  of  a  wretched  scamp  who  went  and 
bought  a  splendid  three-year  old  colt,  and  then  actually  so  ill- 
used  it,  by  over-driving,  that  the  poor  thing  died  on  the  road, — : 
right  under  the  lash,  —  for  which  deed  the  culprit  has  been  ar- 
raigned.    He  defends  himself  and  says  :  — 

"Let  me  alone,  let  me  alone! 

Can't  a  man  do  what  he  likes  with  his  own?  " 

"  Not  always,"  says  Justice  Goodman.  "  The  horse  had 
rights  ;  all  horses  have  rights  to  food,  shelter,  and  fair  treat- 
ment. The  practical  denial  of  those  rights,  or  their  purposed 
invasion,  is  a  positive  crime,  and  as  such  is  punishable.  Be- 
sides this,  society  has  rights,  nor  are  they  to  be  wantonly  out- 
raged, as  they  are  whenever  a  brute  beast  is  victimized,  when  it 
ought  to  be  protected.  Society  has  a  humanitary  interest,  —  an 
interest  which  altogether  takes  precedence  of  yours,  which  is 
merely  pecuniary.  It  was  your  duty  to  deal  justly  by  the 
horse ;  mine  to  see  that  you  neglected  it  not.  You  had  no 
right  —  no  one  has  a  right  —  to  ride  a  free  horse  to  death.  I 
therefore  fine  jrou  for  your  cruelty."  —  "  Serves  him  right !  " 
cries  Harry's  father  —  dead  Harry!  "Serves  him  right!" 
echoes  everybody  else.  "Wonder  if  he  or  they  can  discover  any 
parallel  between  that  dead  horse  and  a  certain  dying  wife  —  or 
wives  ?    The  writer  can.     Reader,  can  you  ?     Try  ! 


176  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

Shift  the  scene  again  :  How  often,  could  we  listen  to  connu- 
bial talk,  would  we  hear  things  like  the  following :  — 
Tender  Husband.  "  Hang  it !  you're  alwa}rs  and  forever 
grunting,  —  always  sick,  sick,  sick,  —  and  have  been  ever  since  I 
married  you  !  "  There  !  that's  just  it  to  a  fraction,  —  "  ever 
since  he  married  her ! ! "  No,  not  that,  either ;  for,  after  all, 
marriage  is  something  more  than  a  priestly  ceremony.  He  did 
not  marry  her ;  no  man  can  talk  in  that  style  to  the  woman  he 
has  married  —  in  the  full,  deep  sense  of  that  prostituted  word; 
no,  not  that ;  but  she  has  been  sick  ever  since  he  cheated  her 
into  a  contract,  just  as  London  Jews  cheat  young  spendthrifts 
out  of  reversions  and  post-obit  bonds.  A  Man  cannot  treat  a 
wife  ill  in  any  respect,  albeit  husbands  may,  and  do  thus  and 
otherwise  ill-treat  the  women  law-entrusted  to  their  charge. 
When  a  couple  are  married,  —  as  God  intended  all  should  be, 
—  the  woman  grows  spiritually  younger  as  years  roll  on,  and 
time  ploughs  his  furrows  very  slowly  in  her  cheek,  and  on  his 
brow. 

How  often  it  happens  that  couples  come  together  when  life  is 
all  a  calm,  and  the  first  j^ear  or  so  is  sweet  and  balmy  to  their 
souls  ;  yet,  alas !  how  soon  comes,  first,  the  low  and  distant 
social  growl,  speedily  deepening  into  hoarse  mutterings,  soon  to 
break  out  into  fierce  tempests,  and  domestic  storms  and  strifes  ! 
This  is  common  ;  this  is  an  every-day  story ;  this  is  true  of  ten 
times  ten  thousand  families.  But  why  is  this  so?  we  ask  ;  and 
common  sense  responds  :  Because  every  one  of  these  numerous 
thousands  of  couples  started  wrong  at  the  outset.  Because 
during  the  first  six  months  of  wedlock  the  wrong  kind  of  love 
held  the  reins,  instead  of  pure  and  calm  affection.  These 
words  are  as  true  as  God  is  true.  The  mistake,  the  folly,  the 
pernicious  oversight,  lies  right  there  I  Instead  of  planting  a  bed 
of  roses,  whirlwinds  are  sown  —  ruthlessly,  foolishly  sown  ;  and 
what  marvel,  in  truth's  name !  that  hurricanes,  the  fruitful  crop 
of  such  peculiar  seed,  should  be  the  harvest  naturally  reaped? 
What  a  pity  that  these  ten,  ay,  these  hundred  thousand,  couples, 
had  not  previously  studied  the  deep  significance  of  the  words : 
"  Keep  cool "  !     What  a  pity  the  grooms  of  all  these  half-mur- 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  1TJ 

dered  brides  had  not  learned  that  mighty  yet  very  simple  les- 
son !  What  is  the  result  of  this  marital  discord  ?  Why,  sim- 
ply, ay,  notoriously,  this :  The  husband  soon  grows  ex- 
tremely sensitive  and  susceptible  to  the  peculiar  charms  and 
attractions  of  crinoline  when  worn  by  almost  any  other  woman 
than  his  own  wife.  What's  the  upshot  of  it  all?  Why,  out  of 
this  common,  very  common  state  of  things,  come  bickerings, 
hatreds,  jealousies,  elopements,  adulteries,  and  the  whole  fright- 
ful catalogue  of  social  and  domestic  miseries,  which  so  ineffably 
disgrace  the  age  in  which  we  —  stay,  —  for  live,  we  certainly  do 
not.  Why?  Again:  Because  the  love-fountains  between 
couples  are  too  often  dried  up  during  the  first  year  of  max*ried 
life.  In  many  cases,  by  far  too  many,  the  domestic  hearth 
grows  altogether  too  freezingly  cold,  or  too  infernally  hot  for 
the  comfort  of  the  twain.  Consequence :  They  separate : 
She  takes  her  half-gestated,  and  less  than  half-finished,  little, 
scx*anny  children,  and  ekes  out  a  livelihood  as  best  she  can ; 
while  the  husband  embarks  on  a  voyage  in  search  of  common 
sense,  which,  if  he  find,  ere  it  be  too  late  to  amend  his  folly, 
will  prove  more  valuable  than  forty  thousand  golden  fleeces, 
such  as  lt  Mister"  Jason  went  sailing  after,  just  subsequent  to 
running  off  from  his  wife  and  two  children  —  the  scamp  ! 

The  junior  members  of  a  man's  family  should  be  the  perfec- 
tion of  the  quintuple  powers  of  God,  Love,  Nature,  health,  and 
parental  care.  These,  not  the  cattle-raiser's  "  Art,"  are  what 
thoroughly  does  the  great,  good  business  ;  for  Art,  especially 
the  sort  alluded  to,  is  out  of  its  legitimate  element  and  sphere 
when  it  interferes  in  this  affair,  except  in  so-far-forth  as  that 
some  of  her  external  and  sanitary  rules  are  applied  to  perfect- 
ing the  personal  or  bodily  health  of  those  who  would,  or  may 
become  parents ;  for  instance,  a  cold  bath  in  the  house ;  a 
not  too  hard  or  too  soft  bed, — which  bed  stands  head  to  the 
north  in  the  centre  of  the  best  room  in  the  house,  and  the  best- 
furnished  one  besides ;  with  a  beautiful  picture  or  statue  so 
placed  over  its  foot,  that  it  shall  ever  be  the  first  object  beheld 
on  opening  the  eyes  after  God's  sweet  agent,  balmy  sleep,  has 
fulfilled  her  recreative  office. 


178  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AXD   MARRIAGE. 

There  was  once  a  married  woman  who  had  a  picture  of  Christ 
in  her  chamber.  By  and  by  she  gave  a  child  to  the  world, 
which  was  the  living  embodiment  of  the  artist's  canvas-mas- 
terpiece. 

Children  are  sent  hither,  by  the  Lord  of  infinite  glory,  through 
processes  altogether  too  deep  for  our  present  consideration. 
All  these  mysteries  must,  in  their  essence,  remain  mysteries 
forever.  We  know  that  this  and  that  take  place,  but  the  how 
is  what  none  will  ever  fully  know.  Suffice  it  that  the  means 
are  arranged,  carried  out,  and  certain  ends  attained  by  the  in- 
scrutable power  and  providence  of  ever-present  and  all-wise 
God.  All  human  aids  are  therefore  secondary,  and  none  but 
idiots  or  fools  will  either  claim  all  knowledge  concerning  the 
processes,  or  usurp  the  prerogatives  of  God  and  nature,  by 
attempting  to  achieve  impossibilities.  If  we  people  act  well 
our  parts,  mentally,  socially,  morally,  affectionally  and  conju- 
gally, our  Infinite  Father  will  take  good  care  of  His,  and  so 
will  the  good  old  mamma,  Nature. 

Now,  the  greatest  obstacle  to  the  ushering  in  upon  the  world's 
stage  of  the  right  sort  of  children,  such  as  never  make  us 
mourn  their  birth,  and  who  never  bring  gray  hairs  in  sorrow  to 
the  grave,  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  absurd  follies, 
quick  tempers,  and  uneven  lives,  capped  with  excesses  of  all 
sorts,  which  b}'  far  too  many  of  us  at  present  lead. 

Amativeness  is  —  especially  under  our  life-condensing 
modern  regime  —  run  wild,  —  is  almost  untamable;  brings 
more  people  to  grief,  causes  more  heart-aches,  body-aches,  sighs, 
groans,  tears  ;  builds  more  poor-houses,  jails,  mad-houses,  and 
condemns  more  people  to  them  ;  erects  more  gibbets,  and  twists 
more  human  necks  upon  them ;  encourages  more  vice  of  all 
sorts,  and  populates  more  grave}-ards,  than  any  other  one  thing 
beneath  heaven's  expanded  dome. 

Licentious  freedom  —  mere  amative  liberty  —  inevitably 
breeds  three  very  bad  things,  —  bad  health,  base  morals,  and 
worse  business  habits  !  Wiry?  Because  that  which  in  itself  is 
a  good  thing  is  suffered  to  take  a  leading  position  in  the  human 
economy,  instead  of  being  restricted  to  its  legitimate  and  sub- 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AXD   MAURI  AGE.  179 

ordinate  place.     Let  love   be  brought  into  a  healthful  normal 
case,  and  the  obverse  of  the  above  sad  catalogue  will  obtain. 

The  governing  principles  of  the  civilized  world  are  rapidly- 
changing  for  the  better.  "We  are  now  emerging  from  the  old- 
established  order,  at  least  so  far  as  the  subjects  of  the  present 
treatise  are  concerned  ;  and  we  are  slowly  but  surely  moving 
toward  an  improved  condition  of  things.  At  present,  civilized 
Christendom  frowns  upon  the  open  practice  of  marital  promis- 
cuity. Doubtless  this  is  "  all  right ;  "  but  what,  strikes  us  as 
rather  curious,  is  this :  The  frown  isn't  honest ;  it  is  Policy, 
rather  than  Principle.  We  love  the  latter ;  we  try  to  respect 
the  former,  but  it  is  hard  work.  "What  troubles  us  most  is  this  : 
Why  don't  civilized  Christendom  stick  to  its  true  text,  and  quit 
breaking  all  the  rules  of  the  decalogue,  —  the  seventh  espe- 
cially ?  "What  a  holy  horror  "  society  "  has  of  the  female  who 
gives  a  loose  rein  to  her  love  and  loving  instincts  !  And  yet 
how  luxuriously  that  self-same  "society"  supports  th a t  very 
identical  icoman!  Curious,  isn't  it?  Very!  Is  it  all  right? 
"We  reckon  not ! 

Reader,  your  humble  servant  devotedly  adores  the  Christ  of 
Nazareth.  That  was  a  Godlike  saying,  "  Neither  do  I  condemn 
thee  ;  go  thou  thy  way,  and  sin  no  more  !  "  These  divine  words 
forever  ring  glorious  charity-changes  through  his  soul.  What's 
the  consequence?  "Wiry,  simply  that  he  finds  it  utterly  and 
totally  impossible  to  regard  an  erring  woman  with  more  than 
ten  times  the  disfavor  that  he  would  an  erring  man ;  simply 
because  she  has  done  once  what  he  may  do  an  hundred  times 
without  losing  caste ! 

If  men  desire  that  women  shall  be  faultless  angels,  let  them 
all  insist  that  they  themselves  shall  set  the  example.  Then, 
and  not  till  then,  will  a  brothel  become  a  rare,  instead  of  a  very 
common,  blotch  upon  the  face  of  society  —  whose  cellars  are 
very  unclean ! 

The  queerest  excuses  are  made  by  Passion's  victims,  to  quiet 
their  own  and  society's  conscience.  For  instance,  the  Mormons 
practise  wholesale    concubinage,  a  la  his  Black  Majesty  the 


180  WOMAX,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

King  of  Dahomey,  who  has  the  moderate  number  of  3,333 
wives!  rather  overreaching  another 

' '  Mighty  king,  who'd  in  one  hut 
Seventy  wives,  as  black  as  soot, 
And  thirty  more  of  a  double  smut,  — 
The  king  of  the  Cannibal  Islands." 

They  —  the  Mormons  —  practise  the  vice  on  the  ground  that 
a  sanctified  sainthood  requires  a  superior  race  of  mortals.  The 
Oneida  Perfectionists  practise  it  "  for  and  by  the  grace  of 
God  ;  "  truly  a  grace  which  passeth  all  understanding  !  They 
remind  one  of  the  boys  whom  the  teacher  caught  using  pipes 
and  cigars.  One  excused  himself  by  the  plea  that  his 
"  stomach  ached  ; "  the  second  urged  "  Biles  ;  "  the  third  one 
said  "  I,  —  /smoke  for  corns!"  So  with  all  natural  and  un- 
natural Passionalists,  —  they  "  smoke  for  corns."  Others  of  the 
same  ilk  urge  various  excuses  to  cover  up  from  themselves  their 
own  contempt,  but  cannot  succeed  after  all. 

As  for  the  writer,  he  hates  these  subterfuges,  and  heartily 
despises  the  persons  who  attain  their  ends  by  resorting  to  such 
puerile  excuses  as  the  above.  He  found  it  not  impossible  to 
respect  Turks,  Arabs,  and  Hindoos,  with  polygamous  tenden- 
cies, when  he  was  among  them.  It  may  be  possible  for  some 
people  to  respect  even  an  honest,  out-spoken  Free  Lover,  —  re- 
spect him,  even  when  they  may  forever  demur  with  him  on  that 
vital  question.  "Why?  Because  such  a  one  hides  not  behind  a 
pseudo-scientific,  philosophic,  or  religious  excuse ;  but  openly 
professing  to  be  what  he  is,  gives  society  a  chance  to  put  caution 
on  guard,  and  play  a  Roland  for  his  Oliver,  —  which  Roland 
ought  to  be  an  insane  retreat.  Not  so  with  your  sneak-thief 
Free  Lover  on  Spiritualistic  grounds,  who  at  best  is  but  a  sen- 
sual scoundrel  in  disguise.  A  stop  should  speedily  be  put  to 
his  "  fun ; "  and  some  of  us  would  hang  by  the  heels  the  in- 
famous moral  coward  who  practises  it  on  the  plea  of  "social 
expedienc3r."     Just  think  of  it ! 

Still  we  all  know  that  amativeness  is  the  lion  of  this  Yankee 
tribe,  and  that  the  age  is  vastly  troubled  with  its  morbid  ten- 


WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE.  181 

dencies,  and  most  decided  proclivities  towards  so-called  affec- 
tioual  freedom  ;  nor  does  it  matter  in  the  least  whether  these  be 
accredited  to  the  insane  or  decidedly  vicious  side  of  human 
nature  ;  for  in  either  case  the  fact  is  patent ;  and  this  fact,  these 
facts,  are  not  by  any  means  to  be  treated  as  unaccountable 
irregularities  ;  for  they  are  but  the  expression  of  a  law  of 
human  nature  —  human  development,  possibly ;  but  in  either 
case  some  people  do  not  like  the  manifestations,  because  in  ulti- 
mate results  they  are  frightened  by  them,  and  rightly  too. 

So  far  in  human  history  Amativeness  has  triumphantly 
laughed  at  all  the  penal  efforts  at  limitation  —  all  legal  enact- 
ments for  the  suppression  of  its  activities ;  for  the  more  laws 
you  make  to  put  it  down,  the  more  it  won't  stay  put  down. 
What  then?  Why,  instead  of  spending  time  in  the  fruitless 
endeavor  to  restrict  and  restrain  this  passion,  vi  et  armis,  we 
had  much  better  turn  our  attention  to  the  laws  which  govern  it, 
and  do  our  best  not  only  to  understand  them,  but  make  a  judi- 
cious application  of  our  knowledge  toward  properly  disciplining 
and  civilizing  it;  which  can  only  be  done  by  teaching  every 
human  being  that  each  violation  of  the  Passion-law  of  nature  is 
a  direct  sin  against  the  sinner,  and  must  inevitably  result  in  his 
or  her  positive  distress  and  misery  in  the  end. 

Legislative  experimentalists  in  all  ages  have  fully  demon- 
strated that  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  prevent  practical  licen- 
tiousness. What,  then,  shall  we  do  ?  is  the  question  ;  to  which 
the  reply  is  :  Throw  all  possible  light  upon  the  general  subject, 
at  home,  and  leave  the  event  with  Omnipotent  God,  who  is  sure 
to  correct  every  error  in  the  end. 

You  cannot  make  a  man  love  his  wife,  nor  a  woman  love  her 
husband,  if  neither  chooses  to  resort  to  the  only  means  that  can 
engender  true  affection,  namely,  mutual  and  long-continued 
endeavor  to  please.  If  they  don't  choose  to,  or  if,  after  re- 
peated trials,  they  have  been  forced  to  conclude  that  mutual 
love  cannot  be  accomplished,  wherein  is  the  justice  of  attempting 
to  compel  such  persons  to  endure  their  constantly  accreting 
misery  and  discontent?  (except  always  the  mutual  protection 
and  care  of  the  children.)     If  there  be  justice  in  thus  compelling 


182  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND    MARRIAGE. 

them,  the  writer,  for  one,  is  unable  to  discern  it.  Evidently,  in 
cases  of  such  desperate  aversion,  soul,  not  body,  founded, 
it  seems  reasonable  to  conclude  that  such  people  should  be 
apart,  for  to  make  them  stay  together,  under  the  ban  of  disgrace 
if  they  shall  separate,  is  to  set  a  premium  upon  harlotry,  liber- 
tinism, misery,  violence,  and  murder,  and  all  other  crimes  mis- 
guided man  is  capable  of  enacting.  And  yet  the  bond  itself 
should  be  indissoluble,  to  prevent  future  mistakes,  unless  a 
mixed  jury  of  men  and  women  see  good  reasons  for  annulling 
it,  after  a  fair  and  open  trial  of  the  issue ! 

Mere  physical  love  is  not,  never  was,  and  perhaps  never  will 
be  restricted  to  pairs.  We  are  sorry  for  this ;  but  it  is  a  fact, 
nevertheless  ;  and  if  it  be  true  that  whosoever  looketh  upon 
another  with  amorous  eyes  is  guilty  of  adultery,  the  writer  is 
afraid  there  will  be  a  very  long  string  of  one  sort  of  sinners  at 
the  judgment-seat !  For  his  part  he  wishes  it  were  not  so,  and 
that  it  were  possible  to  make  John  love  Sarah ;  but  it  cannot 
be  accomplished,  for  people  will  love  who,  when,  how,  and 
where  attraction  may  compel,  despite  all  the  statutes  in  crea- 
tion. All  we  can  do  is  to  teach  them  the  divine  art  of  self-con- 
trol ;  and  that  is  all  we  want  to  do.  In  the  good  time  coming, 
we  devoutly  hope  that  people  will  marry  according  to  the 
canons  of  common  sense,  as  well  as  those  of  law  and  gospel ; 
and  then  there  will  be  no  domestic  storms,  no  chance  for  the 
pranks  of  philosophic  libertines,  or  radical  amazonian  harlots, 
ingrain,  and  disguise ;  nor  will  the  new-fangled  doctrine  find 
advocates  —  or  victims  —  which  teaches  that  somewhere  or  other, 
in  this  life  or  the  other  worlds,  every  man  and  woman  will  be 
sure  to  find,  some  time  or  other,  his  or  her  "  eternal  affinity" 
or  conjugal  better-half.  Now  eternal  affinity  is  mfernal  non- 
sense, because  —  it  is  I  and  is  too  stupid  an  idea  to  merit  re- 
spectable notice,  or  engage  the  pen  now  writing. 

Unions  between  individuals  hereafter  may  last  for  ages,  and 
it  may  be  that  eternity,  to  us,  may  consist  in  a  perfect  blending 
of  individual  "  A "  with  all  and  every  of  the  rest  of  the 
infinite  human  alphabet ;  and  thus  the  cycle  of  human  destiny 
and    happiness  be  rendered  full  and  complete.     One  thing  is 


WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  183 

certain,  and  that  is  :  Every  one  is  capable  of  giving  and  receiv- 
ing joy  of  some  kind  from  every  other  within  the  limits  of  time 
and  space. 

Herein  before  was  used  the  phrase  "  perfect  blending  ;  "  now 
by  this  expression  is  not  meant  a  mere  passing  union  of  one 
person  with  every  other,  but  is  meant  a  cycle  —  be  it  long  or 
short  —  of  thorough  experimental,  disciplinary  friendliness  and 
sympathy,  with  every  other.  This  may  not  be  probable,  yet  is 
far  from  impossible.  If  it  be  true,  what  joys  await  us  all  in  the 
great  Hereafter !  What  an  awful  lengthening  out  of  eternity 
at  once  presents  !  —  indeed  it  is  only  by  such  speculations  as 
this  that  we  are  enabled  to  form  even  a  proximate  notion  of  the 
tremendous  year  of  Infinity.  At  this  point  it  is  very  hard  to 
restrain  the  brain  and  pen  —  so  tempting  is  the  lure  before 
both.  Notoriously  the  institution  of  society,  as  it  exists, 
brings  unmatched  couples  together,  keeps  them  so,  and  sunders 
and  keeps  asunder  those  which  are  in  accordance  with  the 
dicta  of  a  superior  law.  Out  of  this  state  of  things,  when  it 
unmistakably  proceeds  from  the  natural  antagonism  of  the 
general  make-up  of  the  married  parties,  and  is  not  the 
result  of  mere  whim,  or  physical  disease,  —  spring  the  vices  of 
avarice,  Boul-poyerty,  corruption  of  taste,  affection  and  judg- 
ment, jealousy  and  secret  crime.  The  laws  of  heaven  and 
men  must  be  blended  together  ;  if  they  are  not  truly  blended,  let 
us  try  to  make  them  so.  Monogamy  is  the  theory  of  civilized 
life,  but,  owing  to  ignorance  and  abuse,  polygamous  habits  are 
most  notoriously  the  practice.  What  a  pity  that  Christendom 
is  not  more  consistent ! 

Society  has  no  right  to  force  a  woman  to  live  with  a  man 
whose  presence  and  embrace  bring  perpetual  illness  to  her 
body  and  grief  to  her  heart ;  or  a  man  with  a  woman  who  does 
the  same  ;  for  the  atmosphere  arising  from  such  a  household  is 
rank  poison  to  every  community,  and  the  social  disease  there 
festering  is  sure  to  attack  others,  just  as  does  that  from  the 
cholera  or  small-pox  ;  only  that  these  last  destroy  bodies,  but  the 
former  injures  human  souls  ;  nor  is  there  any  good  reason  why 
one  should  be  tolerated,  and  the  other  not. 


184  WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

It  may  be  necessary  that  such  a  couple  part,  yet  neither 
should  be  free  to  render  others  wretched ;  for  the  legal  bond 
should  remain  intact  until  six  women  and  six  men,  all  twelve 
just  and  honest,  shall  patiently  hear  both  parties,  decide  the 
case,  and,  if  necessary,  adjudicate  a  divorce,  which  the  signa- 
ture of  a  judge  shall  render  final  and  complete. 

It  is  a  very  old  theory,  originating  before  the  days  of  Christ, 
and  now  in  vogue  all  over  the  world  to  a  gi-eater  or  less  extent, 
that  the  state  of  the  saints  in  heaven  is  one  of  complex  mar- 
rage  ;  by  which  latter  term,  as  applied  to  heaven,  is  implied  all 
that  the  word  conveys  on  earth.  The  writer  does  not  take  any 
stock  in  that  notion  whatever ;  but  he  knows  that  a  great  many 
people  in  Yankeedom  and  all  over  the  land  practically  carry 
out  on  earth  the  oriental  doctrine  referred  to ;  for  a  wife  at 
home,  and  a  "Miss"  or  two  somewhere  else,  is  as  common  a 
practice  in  Christendom  as  is  dual-marriage  under  Islamic  law. 
Theoretically,  of  course,  the  thing  is  both  denied  and  de- 
nounced, but  is  notoriously  true  and  common  for  all  that,  deny 
or  denounce,  who  may  ;  for  both  wives  and  husbands  often  carry 
out  the  habit  in  extenso. 

There's  a  very  strong  tendency  toward  marital  complexity, 
running  around  loose  in  these  days,  judging  from  the  papers, 
divorces  and  murders  now  so  common  ;  and  daily  hundreds  of 
women  desert  their  lords,  and  husbands  abandon  their  wives. 
Nor  are  these  declarers  of  personal  independence  all  from  the 
lower  or  poorer  strata  of  society,  or  from  the  savage  sections  of 
civilization,  or  from  the  huge  paws  or  the  ungainly  mudsills ; 
for  it  is  notorious  that  the  j^oke  of  wedlock  often  rests  quite  as 
heavily  on  the  "higher  orders"  as  upon  the  lower;  in  conse- 
quence of  which  we  are  often  treated  to  the  t3*pe-recitals  of 
escapades  of  many  a  right  reverend  father  in  God,  proving  that, 
after  all,  human  nature  will  be  human  nature  still,  whether  be- 
neath a  surplice,  cassock,  or  tire  of  linsey-woolsey ;  and  prov- 
ing, again,  that  there  is  something  rotten  at  the  bottom  of 
society  which  needs  the  application  of  a  moral  antiseptic,  the 
best  possible  sort  of  one  being  simple  human  justice,  reason 


WOMAN)   LOVE)    AND   MARRIAGE.  185 

and  common  honesty,  in  equal  proportions,  constantly  applied, 
by  each  to  his  or  her  own  case. 

How  very  curious  it  is  that,  as  a  general  thing,  the  stronger 
a  man  is  intellectually,  the  weaker  he  is  in  his  sensational  or 
amative  nature  !  The  man  who  can  stir  a  nation  to  its  pro- 
fouudest  depths  by  the  magic  of  his  mind,  pen,  or  speech,  can 
easily  be  reduced  to  the  pliancy  of  a  sick  kitten  by  a  pair  of 
sparkling  e}*es,  or  the  wanton  play  of  a  couple  of  death-dealing 
ringlets.  Compensation  !  That's  the  operation  of  the  Law  of 
Heaven's  justice,  and  is  one  of  the  ways  by  which  Dame 
Nature  squares  her  books  and  balances  her  accounts. 

If  a  husband  sins  against  his  wife,  he  is  apt  to  put  on  a  long 
face  for  a  da}'  or  two :  half-repentantly  asks  for,  and  quite  con- 
fidently expects,  pardon.  Nor  in  vain ;  for  it  is  woman's 
nature  to  forgive,  or  at  least  put  on  the  semblance  thereof;  but 
really,  it  is  a  doubtful  question  if  ever  yet  a  woman  really  for- 
gave this  sin.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  she  sins  even  once, 
he,  ah !  he  regards  it  as  a  high  crime,  not  only  against  his  own 
particular  peace  or  comfort,  but  against  the  entire  moral  code, 
unless  he  devotedly  loves  her  ;  then  he  forgives  all. 

Some  one  said :  Many  a  true  heart,  that  would  have  come 
back  like  a  dove  to  the  ark  after  its  first  transgression,  has  been 
frightened  beyond  recall  by  the  savage  character  of  an  unfor- 
giving spirit ;  and  that  some  one  spoke  God's  truth. 

What  a  splendid  lesson,  that  of  Charity  —  no ;  but  Justice 
—  will  be  when  man  shall  learn  the  golden  rule,  and  practically 
act  upon  it ! 

Fairness,  if  nothing  deeper,  requires  that  as  much  lenity 
should  be  shown  to  erring  woman  as  to  erring  man.  Woman 
will  forgive  man  nine  and  ninety  times  over,  when  he  sins 
against  her  general  peace.  Let  but  the  recreant  whine  a  little, 
and  say  he's  "  sorry,"  and  forthwith  she  cleans  the  slate,  to  her 
eternal  renown  be  it  said.  Why,  then,  should  not  man  be  quite 
as  noble  ? 

Most  men  rather  like  Daniel  E.  Sickles,  not  because  he  took 
such  a  terrible  means  to  wipe  out  a  sorrowful  blot,  but  because 
he  did,  once  in  his  life,  what  many  a  woman,  to  all  intents  and 


186  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

purposes,  at  least,  does  fifty  times  a  year,  —  forgave  the  truant 
and  took  her  to  his  heart  again.  May  the  God  of  Heaven  for- 
ever bless  him  for  that  one  noble,  manly  act !  In  the  day  of 
days  that  one  grand  deed  will,  in  God's  balance,  outweigh  a 
million  sins  of  his. 

Many  a  woman  will  bury  her  sorrow  in  her  own  heart,  and 
say  never  a  word  about  it  to  her  husband  or  any  one  else,  rankle 
though  the  memory  may,  and  fret  her  very  heart-strings  out. 
She  will  live  with  him,  do  for  him,  keep  his  home  and  rear  his 
children,  even  though  she  cannot  forgive  or  forget  that  he  has 
forsaken  her  side  to  revel  in  a  harlot's  arms  !  Talk  of  self-deny- 
ing martyrs  after  that !  Why,  there  are  millions  of  just  such 
moral-heroine  martyrs  in  the  land,  thousands  in  every  State, 
hundreds  in  every  country,  scores  in  every  town,  and  specimens 
in  every  village  over  our  entire  broad  domain ! 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

A  certain  sea-captain  once  upon  a  time  encountered  an  old 
peddler-woman  as  he  was  going  on  ship-board. 

"  Buy  something,"  she  cried,  "  buy  something,  will  ye  not, 
my  bonny  laird  o'  the  seas?"  Said  he,  "Good  dame,  I  have 
no  money  with  me,  —  only  a  single  penny,  —  and  you  have 
nothing  to  sell  at  that  price."  —  "  Indeed,  then,  captain,  but  I 
have."  —  "What?  "  —  "  Wit,  d'ye  ken? "  —  "  Let's  have  a 
pennyworth."  —  "So  ye  shall,  —  take  that;"  and  she  handed 
him  a  bit  of  paper.  He  took  it ;  went  on  board,  put  the  scrap 
of  paper  away,  and  forgot  it  for  two  years.  In  the  mean 
time  he  had  been  to  India  —  grown  rich  —  was  on  his  last 
return  voyage,  —  had  nearly  reached  home,  when  he  accidentally 
came  across  the  old  woman's  scrap  of  paper.  "  Ah  !  "  said  he, 
"  here's  the  penny's-worth  of  wit  I  bought  on  the  day  we  sailed 
for  the  Indies.  Let's  see  what  it  amounts  to.  Ah  1  here  it 
is:  — 


WOMAX,    LOVE,    AND    MARRIAGE.  187 

"  '  Your  mistress  lores  for  lust  and  gold ; 
Your  wife  —  she  loves  ye  for  your  soul. 
Believe  me  not,  but  try  and  see 
TVhich  of  the  twain  will  truest  be. 

"  '  "When  sorrow  comes  and  woes  descend, 
See  which  ■will  prove  the  truest  friend  — 
Which  heart  is  round  thee  truest  knit,  — 
This  is  your  penny's-worth  of  wit.'" 

"  By  the  great  Hook-block !  -well  said,"  remarked  the 
captain. 

In  due  time  the  ship  arrived.  He  dressed  himself  in  a  splen- 
did suit,  over  which  he  threw  a  sailor's  coarse  and  tarry  garb. 
Then  he  went  to  the  police,  told  of  his  intention,  had  officers 
properly  posted,  and  then  went  and  knocked  at  the  door  of  one 
of  his  own  sumptuously-furnished  houses  in  which  resided, — 
maintained  by  the  seaman's  gold,  —  the  seaman's  mistress. 
She  came  to  the  door,  —  he  entered.  "  What  in  heaven's  name 
have  you  come  in  that  dress  for  ?  Bah  !  you  smell  badly  !  — 
Tar  and  such  filth,  oh  !  Are  you  mad  ?  "  —  "  No,  my  dear ! 
not  mad,  but  unfortunate  —  wrecked  at  sea.  Not  a  dollar  left ; 
besides,  I  care  not  for  dollars  ;  this  is  my  house ;  this  my  furni- 
ture, —  you  are  my  best  beloved  !  Come,  save  me !  —  hide  me; 
in  a  quarrel  i"  have  killed  a  man,  and  !  "  —  "  O  you  blood}'- 
minded  villain  —  that  will  do !  Who  are  you  ?  Where  did  you 
come  from?  —  Oh,  dear,  I  shall  faint.  Police  !  Police  ! "  The 
officers  were  close  at  hand ;  they  entered  the  house,  and  — 
"  Arrest  that  ragged  sailor  man.  He's  a  murderer  !  Oh  !  oh ! 
I  shall  die  with  fright.  I  don't  know  him,  except  that  he  has 
killed  a  man  !  "  The  officers  smiled.  The  captain  tore  off  his 
disguise  and  stood  revealed  in  his  fine  attire.  He  laughed  ha ! 
ha !  threw  down  bundle  after  bundle  of  crisp  and  heavy  bank- 
notes upon  the  table,  at  sight  of  which  she  laughed  too.  "  Dear 
me,  what  a  joke  !  I  knew  all  the  while  you  was  funnivg"  said 
she.  "  I  loved,  and  ever  will  love  you,  dearly  !  I  knew  you 
had  not  killed  anybody,  and"  —  "Vile  strumpet,  leave  this 
house.    Officers,  put    her    out ! " An  hour 


188  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND    MARRIAGE. 

later  he  knocked  at  the  door  of  another  house ;  told  the  same 
story,  and  —  "  For  God's  sake,  my  poor  husband,  let  me  hide 
you  in  the  cellar  !  "  —  then  she  admitted  the  officers  of  the  law. 
"  Yes,  such  a  sailor-man  had  been  there  ;  but  had  run  through 
the  house,  escaped  by  the  back  door,  and  if  they'd  hurry  after 
him  they  might  find  him."  Why  continue  the  tale?  The  cap- 
tain was  satisfied  with  his  purchase,  —  the  best  penny  invest- 
ment ever  made.  The  old  Avoman,  in  after  years,  felt  glad  she 
had  sold  her  wares  so  well,  and  perhaps,  reader,  we  too  shall  be 
wiser  hereafter  than  before  ;  at  least,  we  will  not  be  likely  soon 
to  forget  the  lesson  conveyed  by  this  story  of  the  captain,  his 
mistress,  the  faithful  wife,  or 

THE    PENNV'S-WORTH    OF  WIT. 

"What  constitutes  the  charm  of  not  merely  the  modern  belle, 
but  of  nine  women  in  every  ten,  judged  by  what  we  see  alone? 
It  is  rather  a  puzzling  matter  to  decide  whether  the  charms  lay 
in  their  divinity  or  their  dimity.  But  when  the  two  are  well 
and  fairly  weighed,  and  the  woman  is  once  seen  en  dishabille, 
the  dimity  carries  in  it  a  gallop,  and  divinity  goes  up  in  a  bal- 
loon. Now  when  a  man  is  humbugged  by  dimity,  mistakes  it 
for  divinity,  marries  it,  and  finds  his  cloth  is  all  illusion,  and 
his  angel  a  very  poor  specimen  of  very  poor  clay,  he's  to  be 
pitied  ;  but  what  of  her  ?  Is  she  not  guilty  of  a  positive  crime  ? 
and  if  she  reaps  the  reward,  of  it,  who's  to  blame  ?  for,  undoubt- 
edly, more  men  are  taken  in  and  done  for  through  the  sensual 
fascinations  of  dress  than  are  fairly  won  by  womanhood  and 
genuine  worth. 

Women,  in  these  days,  when  millinery  is  the  finest  art  on  the 
globe,  —  perverted  art  it  is,  —  dress  so  well  that  themselves  are 
lost  in  a  maze  of  sense-compelling  witchery.  More  dress  !  mere 
dress  !  What  with  laces  and  jewels  and  transcendent  curls,  and 
heart-destroying  wavy  lines,  and  frills  and  panniers  and  boots  ! 
—  oh,  the  boots,  the  boots,  the  magic  boots,  with  silvery  buck- 
le —  ers !  and  the  gloves,  and  the  scents,  and  the  sense,  and 
the  illusion  !  —  O  Lord  !  it's  all  illusion  —  especially  when  after- 
ward a  man  beholds  an  unearthly-looking  being,  standing  like 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  189 

a  single  mast  inside  a  hoop-skirt  in  the  morning  !  —  the  morn- 
ing !  as  he  looks  at  the  trappings  on  the  chair  and  then  at  —  her? 
—  no,  IT  —  standing  there  before  the  glass  putting  lily-white  on 
her  neck,  rouge  on  her  cheeks,  pencilling  her  eyebrows,  and 
smiling  as  she  thinks  of  Mm  —  "Oh,  how  is  this  for  high?" 
and  he  —  he  quotes  Shakespeare  and  says,  referring  to  the 
make-up  and  the  made-up  maiden,  too  :  — 

"  Can  such  things  be,  and  overcome  us 
Like  a  summer  cloud?"  ' 

-  Then  he  cuts  short  the  quotation  and  adds:  "She  did  over- 
come me  —  you  bet ! "  and  then  he  groans  a  groan,  while  she 
smiles  a  smile  and  calls  him  "Ducky,"  when  he  knows  he  was  a 
goose,  whose  experience  paralleled  the  sailor's, 

"  Who  went  on  hoard,  —  the  truth  he'd  tell, 
Because  the  boatswain  had  rigged  her  well 
With  her  tacks  and  sheets  and  her  bowlines  too, 
And  the  colors  flying,  red,  white  and  blue." 

And  both  were  privateered  ! 

The  flummery  disease  is  almost  universal,  and  all  women 
have  it  —  old,  young,  rich,  poor,  high,  low ;  virtuous,  vicious, 
black,  white  and  off-color  —  they  have  got  it  large,  and  badly, 
and  all  of  them,  in  their  several  spheres,  are  most  beautifully 
calculated  not  only  to  inflame  her  own,  but  to  fire  the  passions 
of  the  opposite  sex.  The  writer  does  not  think  that  beauty 
unadorned  is  adorned  the  most,  but  does  think  that  most  of  it 
is  altogether  over-adorned  and  ovei'-done,  and  consequently  a 
great  many  women  are  tm-done.  A  little  better  judgment  in 
regard  to  dress  would  greatly  tend  toward  the  elevation  of 
public  morals,  and  the  depression  of  public  scandal.  Eight 
dresses  in  every  twelve  worn  by  ladies  en  promenade,  are 
directly  calculated  to  make  the  heart  of  any  susceptible  man 
beat  strangely-wild  tattoos,  and  to  suggest  thoughts  not 
healthful  to  his  soul  by  any  manner  of  means.  A  female  should 
so  dress  as  to  excite  a  man's  admiration  for  her  more  solid 
characteristies ;  but  instead  of  that,  passion  rules  the  hour,  and 


190  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

she  so  arranges  her  toilet  that  the  man  who  beholds  her  speedily 
loses  sight  of  the  woman  in  the  sex  alone,  and,  though  he  ex- 
press it  not,  indulges  in  insane  dreams  of  passional  emotion, 
and  feels  that  he  would  readily  dare  all  things  to  obtain  what, 
if  possessed,  would  prove  a  dearly  bought  whistle,  inasmuch  as 
the  reaction  upon  himself,  when  he  came  to  look  the  matter 
over,  would  make  him  despise  his  mother's  only  son,  and  con- 
sider himself  in  anything  but  a  favorable  light. 

A  rightly  wedded  couple  derive  quite  as  much  happiness  from 
the  oftentimes  unrecognized  and  mutual  play  of  physical  spheres, 
as  from  the  play  and  action  of  elements  and  qualities  of  the 
morals,  the  heart  and  the  intellect.  Indeed,  more  frequently  is 
marriage  a  plrysical  union,  yet  comparatively  a  happy  one,  than 
it  is  a  blending  of  minds  or  a  fusion  of  moral  spheres. 

When  a  couple  respond  to  each  other  in  all  departments  of 
our  great  nature,  as  a  matter  of  course,  perfect  reciprocity  and 
unanimity  exist.  It  is  doubtful  if  many  such  unions  there  are. 
What  then  ?  Why,  as  nothing  earthly  is  perfect,  and  as  most 
of  us  are  unable  to  find  our  exact  "  affinities  "  or  counter-parts, 
and  probably  could  not  get  them  if  we  should,  is  it  not  decidedy 
better  for  us  to  endeavor  to  adapt  our  spheres  to  each  other, 
than  to  spend  our  time  in  grumbling  at  our  respective  lots?  for 
it  is  possible  to  kindle  a  lasting  union,  and  a  happy  one,  by 
studying  ourselves  and  each  other  ;  by  bearing,  forbearing,  and 
in  systematic  adaptation  and  conciliation  we  can  mend  matters 
if  we  will  but  try. 

Home-work,  drudgery  and  wretchedness  fall  not  to  Lot's 
wife,  but  lots  of  wives,  while  home-joys  —  such  as  they  are  — 
fall  to  the  husband's  share,  and  his  wife  has  no  share  in  them 
whatever.  Exhibitions  and  demonstrations  of  home  love  are 
like  meat  dinners  to  a  bonny  braw  John  Hieland  man  —  a  devil- 
ish rare  commodity  or  event,  alwaj-s  unexpected,  paroxysmal, 
spasmodic,  fitful,  —  a  lady  looking  over  the  pen  now  as  it  is 
gliding  over  the  paper  says,  "It  is  exceedingly  damnical!" 
because  it  is  of  impulse  and  blood,  not  of  principle  and  soul, 
wherefore  it  is  always  one-sided  and  leaves  a  dreadful  sting 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  191 

behind,  —  Nature's  great  protest  against  the  desecration  of  her 
holiest  altar,  Marriage,  in  its  true  intent  and  meaning ! 

What  the  mental  agony  of  the  female  must  be,  who  has  to 
act  the  part  of  an  unwilling  priestess  in  such  a  dreadful  orgy,  — 
for  sacrament  it  is  not,  —  only  a  woman  and  a  wife  can  know  ; 
and  its  terrors  not  even  she  can  verbally  express  !  Could  we  read 
the  scroll  of  many  a  woman's  mind,  we  would  find  lines  expressive 
of  unutterable  loathing  ;  while  in  others  we  would  discover  not 
a  few  secret  resolves  to  bear  the  burden  with  assumed  patience, 
and  to  pay  it  off  with  interest  upon  the  very  first  suitable  oc- 
casion. "  Don't  believe  it,  ha?  "  Well,  sirs,  tell  us  the  source 
of  the  numberless  Hasons,  elopements  and  suicides  ;  explain 
this  thing  on  any  other  ground  than  that  of  conjugal  barbarity, 
affectional  thirst,  and  love-starvation,  and  we  will  admit  that 
the  view  here  taken  is  a  wrong  one.  But  until  you  do  this 
every  third  woman  will  tell  you  we  are  right. 

Physiological  love  in  men  is  selfish  as  a  general  thing,  be- 
cause it  is  unhealthy.  Woman's  love-nature  is  not  so.  She  is 
never  or  very  seldom  selfish,  but  from  Eve  down  to  the  last 
woman  is  anxious,  in  every  possible  and  conceivable  way,  to 
give  a  thousand-fold  more  than  she  receives,  —  vampires  ex- 
cepted. A  wife  yields  points,  even  those  which  wreck  her 
health  and  endanger  her  life,  ten  thousand  times  to  every 
single  sacrificial  concession  her  husband  makes  to  her. 

Men  very  seldom  consult  their  wives,  and  notoriously  do  not 
just  when,  if  ever,  they  should  do  so.  Yet  the  wives  put  up 
with  it  all  from  the  bridal  to  the  burial  of  their  hopes,  if  not  their 
mortal  frames,  for  a  great  many  men  never  fairly  develop  up 
to  manness,  but  flourish  in  immortal  piggitude  to  the  last. 

It  may  be  safely  laid  down  as  an  axiom  for  the  benefit  of 
everybody,  that  none  but  a  human  brute  would  constantly,  as 
too  many  do,  force  the  inclinations  of  a  wife,  or  even  offer,  by 
implication,  an  odious  circumstance  upon  any  woman  —  even 
a  professional  courtesan,  much  less  upon  the  very  being  whom 
he  has  deliberately  sworn  to  cherish  and  protect  —  (she  needs 
most  protection  from  himself!)  — and  whom  he  calls  by  that 
most  sacred  title,  wife.     None  but  a  suicidal  fool,  we  repeat. 


192  woman;  lofe,  and  marriage. 

will  be  guilt}''  of  an  act  so  supremely,  so  detestably,  infamously, 
unreasonably,  dastardly,  mean  !  The  true  connubial  life  is  a  feast 
fit  for  the  immortal  Gods,  but  is,  alas !  too  often  partaken  of 
by  immortal  goats  who  are  unwilliug  to  appreciate  this  truth, 
else  we  should  see  the  evidence  of  their  reformation  in  the  bright 
eyes  and  rosy  cheeks  of  their  wives,  where  we  now  behold 
sunken  orbs,  sullen  visage,  uncertain  step,  and  hectic  cheeks. 

The  rule  of  Right  is  never  wrong :  Love  should  ever  remain 
holy,  both  parties  inspired  with  health,  and  healthful  love,  for 
self  and  each  other.  Otherwise,  the  draught  will,  in  the  finale, 
prove  to  have  been  a  bitter  one. 

No  being  under  God's  heaven  has  a  right  to  promote  his  own 
joy  at  the  cost  of  his  own  conscience,  or  the  agony,  mental  or 
otherwise,  of  another,  no  matter  what  his  legal  right  may  be  in 
the  premises ;  they  are  all  superseded  by  human  rights,  the 
first  of  which  is  self-preservation,  and  the  right  to  resist  inhu- 
man rites. 

A  man's  wife  is,  or  ought  to  be,  his  other  and  his  better  part. 
Such  is  the  human  and  the  divine  intent  of  the  mystic  tie  be- 
tween them,  nor  may  he  even  in  thought,  wrong  her  of  any 
single  prerogative  accorded  by  all  laws  human  and  divine. 
Being  part  of  himself  she  ought  to  partake  of  all  his  joys  ;  but 
she  don't !  —  while  he  takes  good  care  that  she  bears  all  her  own 
sorrows  and  his  pains  and  cares  besides.  When  a  man  falls 
short  of  his  duty  in  these  respects,  that  very  man  desecrates 
her  and  himself.  Selfishness,  however,  produces  its  own  pun- 
ishment ;  first,  in  a  deprivation  of  happiness,  and  second,  by  posi- 
tively injuring  his  own  constitution  and  nature,  —  mental,  physi 
cal,  moral,  nervous.  If  people  would  think  more  of  marital  rights 
and  less  of  marital  rites,  the  world  would  be  much  better  for  it 

As  a  general  thing,  men  are  too  impatient  to  reach  the 
sought-for  goal  —  are  too  fast  altogether  —  too  wrapped  up  in 
self;  too  inconsiderate.  Reader,  there  is  a  whole  volume  in 
these  last  lines.  Please  read  and  ponder  them  well,  for  there's 
wisdom  therein. 

"  Who  drives  fat  oxen  should  himself  be  fat ; "  and  whoso 
would  be  happy  must  attain  that  end  by  making  others  so  1 


woman;  love,  and  marriage.  193 

Says  Fowler,  or  some  other  not  over-sage  writer  on  Love : 
"  By  all  the  happiness,  O  woman !  which  you  are  capable  of 
bestowing  and  receiving  in  married  life,  I  beg  you  to  note  well 
every  invitation  to  Love's  banquet,  and  to  cordially  respond," 
[provided  they  don't  come  too  often,  and  when  prompted  by 
mere  blood-fever,  —  adds  the  author  of  this  work.]  Fowler :  — 
"  Coldness  and  squeamishness  on  your  part  will  dampen  his 
pleasure,  and  therefore  his  love."  [A  word  just  here.  If  a 
man's  love  to  his  wife  depends  upon  her  readiness  to  yield  to 
his  caprices,  then  we  beg  leave  to  dissent,  and  to  quote  the 
remark  of  a  daughter  of  New  England,  who  said  to  the  author : 
"  Casca,  most  men  are,  on  the  subject  of  love  and  women, 
utterly  crazy — or  worse.  If  a  female  gives  them  an  inch, 
they  will  claim,  not  an  ell,  but  five  hundred  million  yards ! 
They  will  draw  out  our  affections,  repay  us  in  flatteries  and 
compliments,  and  then  demonstrate  their  honor  and  manhood 
by  the  most  disgusting  advances  and  direct  proposals,  teeming 
with  infamy  up  to  the  brim.  They  call  this  hateful  thing  Love  ! 
O  heavens !  It  may  be  love,  but  if  it  is,  then  excuse  me, 
sir,  but  I  say,  damn  such  love  !  —  forever  and  for  aye  !  "  Casca 
Llanna  agreed  with  the  lady,  and  resumes  the  quotation :] 
"  Your  cold  repulse  or  petulant  refusal,  persisted  in,  will  prove 
the  death-blow  of  conjugal  felicity  to  you  both  —  a  blighting 
wind  to  his  fondest  hopes  ;  for  it  will  force  upon  him  the  dregs 
and  lees  of  the  marriage-cup,  in  lieu  of  the  delicious  nectar,  the 
joyous  wine  of  life,  which  every  man  has  a  right  to  drink  from 
the  hymeneal  fountain." 

There's  considerable  sound  sense  in  that.  Let  us  continue 
the  strain  a  little  longer,  and  add:  "But  if  you  watch  the 
rising  tide  of  love  and  dalliance,  and  meet  it  as  it  only  should 
be  met,  with  the  true,  heartfelt  and  welcome  response,  you  at 
once  rekindle  Love's  pure  flame,  and  crown  your  blessed  union 
with  the  green  garlands  of  human  happiness,  full,  complete,  and 
unsullied."  Fowler:  —  "  But  remember,  O  wife,  that  nothing 
will  strain  the  cords  of  his  respect  for  you  as  unwomanly  treat- 
ment—  which  will  bring  a  shock  of  disappointment  that  will 
soon  ripen  into  hatred."  Why  ?  Because  the  reciprocated  and 
13 


194  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

pure  love  is  the  natural  expression  of  marriage,  and  it  is  the 
very  fountain  of  all  human  attraction,  beauty,  energy,  and  true 
might.  It  underlies  every  manifestation  of  human  power  ;  and 
if  you  wantonly,  wilfully,  choke  off,  strangle,  or  poison  that, 
you  inaugurate  disease,  contention,  and  living  death  upon  the 
very  throne  of  Life  itself.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  you  purely, 
lovingly,  healthfully,  can  and  icill  respond  to  his  unworded 
wish,  and  gracefully  permit  that  noble  homage  which  true  affec- 
tion ever  seeks  to  pay  the  object  of  its  adoration,  you  will 
speedily  cure  his  love  of  the  chills  and  fevers  to  which  it  is 
sometimes  subject,  and  bring  back  to  health  both  the  man  and 
his  passions.  This  rejuvenescence  of  marital  love  will  go  on 
intensifying,  deepening  and  spreading,  until  both  his  nature 
and  j'our  own  will  become  divested  of  all  irregularities,  and 
life  prove  a  garden  of  perennial  joys.  Properly  controlled,  the 
instincts  of  nature  can  produce  none  but  good  results.  If 
people  will  only  make  a  persistent  effort  toward  self-subjugation, 
the  amative  instinct  will  become  disciplined,  orderly,  and  de- 
veloped. But  it,  like  evei^-thing  else  that  is  at  loose  ends  and 
unruly,  needs  a  taut  rein  and  steady  effort.  Under  this  train- 
ing it  will  soon  shape  itself,  and  all  fierceness,  disorder,  brutal- 
ity and  grossness  which  now,  alas !  so  often  mark  its  opera- 
tions, will  cease  one  by  one,  and  finally  disappear  forever  and 
forever.     God  speed  their  last  day ! 

It  would  be  well  for  all  wives  to  remember  that  constant  and 
fretful  denial  on  their  part,  without  an  effort  towards  adapta- 
tion, when  that  is  possible,  directly  tends  to  exaggerate  and 
intensify  all  the  abominable  conditions  attendant  upon  the  mar- 
ried state  of  some  people.  On  some  men  these  refusals  have  a 
terrible  effect ;  marital  infidelity  becomes  a  prominent  subject, 
first  of  thought,  finally  of  act.  These  views  commend  them- 
selves to  the  consideration  of  every  thoughtful  man  and  woman. 
May  the  seed  here  sown  fall  on  good  soil,  and  bear  a  golden 
fruitage,  is  the  writer's  humble  but  soul-felt  prayer. 

"  What  do  }Tou  propose  in  cases  where  one  party  overflows 
with  love,  and  the  other  is  totally  without  it?"  asks  the  reader. 
We   reply :    "  The   superabundance  of  love,   instead  of  being 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND    MARRIAGE.  195 

eternally  suggestive  of  but  one  mode  of  action,  and  that  its 
very  lowest  and  least  important  of  its  hundreds  of  others, 
should  manifest  itself  in  the  ten  thousand  little  trifles  of  every- 
day life,  until  at  last  a  spark  from  one  will,  nay,  must,  kindle 
the  flame  in  the  other.  The  kind  word,  the  silent  praise,  the 
tender,  loving  glance,  the  honeyed  kiss,  the  affectionate  em- 
brace,—  in  short,  the  "cuddlings"  of  admiring  affection  will 
speedily  balance  accounts  and  equalize  the  circulation  of  the 
divine  principle.  Fire  in  one  and  ice  in  the  other  will  produce 
warmth  in  both ;  for  although  reciprocity  does  not  exist  at  first, 
yet  it  can  be  achieved.  "  Where  there's  a  will  there's  a  wa}r." 
It  only  needs  a  little  "try"  to  work  wonders  in  that  regard. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  so  conduct  one's  self  as  to  inspire  love, 
respect,  and  even  veneration.  The  effort  is  well  worth  making. 
Well  pursued  it  never  fails  ! 

All  women,  wives  especially,  demand  homage,  and  whoever 
refuses  to  grant  it  is  not  wise.  There  are  no  ugly  women. 
All,  vampires  excepted,  are  good,  beautiful  and  true,  only  that 
some  wear  life-long  marks,  as  said  before.  If  a  man  appreciates 
his  wife,  and  lets  her  find  it  out,  the  man  don't  live  who  can  by 
arts,  fair  or  foul,  seduce  her  from  her  dignity  to  herself,  or  alle- 
giance to  her  lord  !  There's  no  mistake  about  that  matter.  If 
there  is,  then  the  writer's  life-long  study  of  the  sex  has  been  of 
no  avail.  No  woman  likes  the  man  who  is  insensible  to  her 
mental  worth,  moral  and  domestic  excellence,  or  to  her  charms 
of  person.  "  Hell  has  no  fury  like  a  woman  scorned,"  says  the 
adage.  Potiphar's  wife  is  an  illustration.  We  read  that  that 
lady  hated  Joseph  tremendously  after  that  circumspect  individual 
refused  allegiance  and  homage  to  her  charms.  Why?  Be- 
cause the  reaction  on  her  part  was  in  strict  accordance  with  a 
fundamental  law  of  human  nature, —  that  of  self-esteem  and 
love  of  admiration. 

We  seldom  forgive  those  who,  wantonly  or  otherwise,  offend 
our  amour  propre.  Perhaps  this  common  human  trait  is  the 
result  of  wrong  education  and  surroundings, —  but  it  is  a  posi- 
tive trait  nevertheless.  We  know  that  this  thing  will  change 
with  time,  and  be  better  in  the  good  future  now  winging  its  way 


196  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE. 

hither.  But,  "  human  nature  is  at  present  a  veiy  crooked 
stick,"  and  probably  was  no  straighter  in  Joseph's  day. 

To  make  mutual  concession,  is  to  gain  many  a  point,  other- 
wise unattainable.  Cheerful  conciliation  on  the  part  of  a  wife 
to  her  husband  ought  to,  and  in  the  majority  of  cases  will, 
soften  him,  even  though  his  nature  be  coarse  and  semi-brutal. 
To  fairly  state  the  case,  and  gracefully  submit  our  own  private 
judgment  to  that  of  another,  is  often  the  very  best  possible 
method  of  gaining  an  end  ;  and  when  a  husband  realizes  that  his 
wife  for  his  sake  endures  what  is  to  her  disagreeable,  his  pity 
is  aroused,  his  gratitude  excited,  and  all  the  higher  faculties 
of  his  soul  plead  trumpet-tongued  in  the  wife's  behalf.  This  is 
another  trait  of  human  nature.  In  such  a  case  passion  becomes 
subdued,  and  Love  asserts  supremacy.  He  cannot,  and  still  be 
a  Man,  take  advantage  of  his  power,  —  pleasure  in  a  wife's 
pain  ;  nor  can  he  gloat  in  a  sacrifice  at  the  expense  of  one  whose 
love  he  feels  to  be  his  own ! 

Scolding,  blaming,  stamping,  threatening,  on  either  side,  can 
do  no  possible  good  whatever.  Unripe  apples  are  poor  eat- 
ing! 

Negroes,  Indians,  coarse  men  of  all  nations  can  stand  all 
sorts  of  nervous  drain  ten  times  more  than  a  delicate-nerved, 
brainful,  high-toned,  fine  boned-man.  And  it  is  also  a  fact  that 
the  man  of  coarse  body,  habits,  and  tastes,  can  resist  tempta- 
tion fifty  times  easier  than  the  man  of  finer  body  and  intenser 
nature.  And  for  this  reason  we  find  less  peccadilloes  among 
the  coarse,  than  among  the  finer  nerved,  for  in  the  latter  case 
the  person  is  beset  with  an  appetite  ground  on  lightning  and 
tipped  with  ethereal  fire,  against  which  only  the  loftiest  human 
will  can  successfully  stand ;  and  as  elsewhere  said,  the  only 
hope  of  such,  when  attacked,  is  flight,  instant  flight  from  the 
tempter  and  temptation. 

When  a  man  is  not  exhausted  he  is  far  more  able  to  resist 
the  lascivious  demon,  than  he  ever  can  be  while  occasionally 
giving  way  to  a  loose  rein. 

Old  bachelors  are  a  nuisance,  and  a  certain  sort  of  old  maids 
a  worse  one.     Only  when  a  man  has  lived  as  husband  and  father, 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  197 

and  a  woman  as  wife  and  mother,  can  the  truest  human  devel- 
opment be  achieved,  and  human  j'03's  be  tasted  :  for  the  joys  of 
parentage  are  infinitely  dearer  to  man  and  woman  in  some  re- 
spects, than  any  other  pertaining  to  earthly  existence ;  and 
soul  people  regard  the  man  who  hates  babies,  as  a  cannibal, 
and  a  woman  who  does  so,  as  a  soulless  monstrosity,  and  so  they 
are. 

The  nervous  system  of  both  husband  and  wife  are  so  many 
manufactories  wherein  is  made  the  varied  fluid  lightnings 
which  course  with  wonderful  speed  over  the  entire,  mighty  hu- 
man being,  in  all  its  parts,  external,  internal  and  inmost.  The 
one  fluid  is  intensely  male,  the  other  intensely  female.  There 
are  occasions  when  these  two  fluids  meet,  and  when  they  do,  they 
instantly  change  from  fluid  to  aura-form,  and  with  the  speed  of 
light,  traverse  the  entire  nervous  ocean  of  either  and  both,  pen- 
etrating body,  spirit  and  soul,  binding  both  wife  and  husband 
in  chains  lighter  than  air,  yet  stronger  than  tempered  steel,  cre- 
ating joys  too  vast  for  tongue  to  tell  or  pen  to  write.  This  is 
Love ! 

Sappho  knew  this  great  truth,  for  she  says  :  — 

"  In  all  I  pleased,  but  most  in  what  is  best; 
And  the  last  joy  was  dearer  than  the  rest; 
Then  with  each  word,  each  glance,  each  motion  fired, 
You  still  enjoyed,  and  yet  you  still  desired, 
Till  all  the  soul  in  holy  transport  lay, 
And  mind  itself  in  rapture  died  away.  " 

The  time  will  come  when  man  shall  learn  the  art  of  sell- 
preservation  quite  as  well  as  he  now  understands  the  methods 
of  its  destruction ;  but  first  he  must  know  the  difference  be- 
tween love  and  lust,  and  understand  that  only  virtuous  jo}rs,  in 
holy,  happy,  heaven-sanctioned  wedlock,  are  those  that  can 
build  up  his  manhood,  and  render  life  a  path  of  roses  instead 
of  a  lane  of  thorns.  He  has  yet  to  learn  that,  in  order  to  reach 
a  blissful  human  pleasure,  he  must  turn  from  the  road  of  excess, 
and  find  out  how  to 

Moderate  his  joy, 

Nor  in  his  pleasure  all  his  might  employ. 


198  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

Then  never  suspect,  without  good  grounds,  the  fidelity  of  your 
mate,  nor  fancy  her  or  his  conduct  to  be  bad  till  the  facts  are 
known,  and  not  then  till  well  proven,  for  hatreds,  fancies  and 
jealousies  are,  like  false  love,  often  but  a  reflex  of  the  selfhood. 
This  chapter  cannot  better  be  ended  than  with  the  following, 
because  it  is  precisely  what  the  writer  himself  thinks !  The 
editor  in  chief  of  the  "  New  York  Tribune,"  writing  to  Theodore 
Tilton,  says :  — 

"  I  do  not  assume  that  my  views  on  the  woman  question  are 
of  much  consequence  to  others ;  but,  in  so  far  as  they  may 
possess  interest,  it  is  well  that  they  be  clearly  understood.  Let 
me,  then,  indicate  your  misapprehensions,  without  further  pre- 
face. 

"1.  You  say  I  '  hold  that  there  ought  to  be  no  divorce  at  all 
—  not  for  any  crime,  even  the  worst.'  So  far  as  I  can  recollect, 
your  only  authority  for  this  statement  is  a  remark  that,  had  not 
the  Master  spoken  otherwise,  I  would  not  have  deemed  adultery 
a  sufficient  reason  for  dissolving  a  marriage.  As  you  seem  to 
have  given  these  words  undue  weight,  allow  me  to  explain  my 
view  more  fully. 

"  That  persistent,  flagitious  adultery  in  husband  or  wife 
affords  good  cause  for  divorce,  I  have  not  meant  to  deny. 
But  there  have  been  cases  of  transient  infidelity  to  marriage 
vows,  under  the  influence  of  passions  inflamed  by  wine  and 
other  unnatural  excitements,  which,  being  followed  by  prompt 
and  profound  contrition,  I  would  not  judge  an  adequate  reason 
for  divorce.  You  and  I  both  know  that  wives  have  often  par- 
doned such  lapses  in  husbands  ;  you  and  I  agree  that  husbands 
have  no  rightful  immunity  in  such  matters  which  ought  not  also 
to  be  accorded  to  wives.  And  I  profoundly  honor  and  rever- 
ence the  husband  who  can  say  to  his  erring  wife,  '  Though  I 
know  that  you  have  been  false  to  God  and  to  me,  yet,  because 
of  the  love  I  have  borne  you,  of  the  vow  which  pledged  me  to 
love  and  cherish  you  till  death,  and  for  the  sake  of  the  dear 
children  which  God  has  given  us,  I,  believing  you  truly  peni- 
tent, will  forgive  and  try  almost  to  forget  your  crime,  and  thus 
shield  our  little  ones  from  undeserved  shame.'     I  regard  the 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  g  199 

husband  who  thus  speaks  and  acts  as  a  better  Christian,  a  truer 
man,  than  is  he  who  exposes,  discards  and  outlaws  the  wife  of 
his  youth  for  a  flagrant  transgression,  now  sincerely  and  bit- 
terly repented.  I  suggest,  therefore,  that  you  henceforth  rep- 
resent me  as  holding  that  adultery  may,  but  does  not  always, 
justify  an  application  for  divorce. 

"  II.  You  say  I  hold  that  '  if  a  man  marries  and  his  wife 
dies,  there  should  be  no  second  marriage.'  This,  also,  is  too 
sweeping.  Some  of  my  best  and  most  esteemed  friends  are 
remarried  —  happily,  I  am  sure  ;  wisely  and  nobly,  I  judge. 
Nay ;  I  can  imagine  a  case  in  which  the  poor,  hard-working, 
widowed  father  of  young  children,  whom  he  cannot  take  with 
him  to  his  daily  labor,  should  feel  constrained  for  their  sake  to 
replace  his  lost  wife  by  another  in  whose  perfect  acceptance  and 
discharge  of  a  mother's  duties  toward  those  children  he  could 
implicitly  trust.  Pardon  me,  but  I  am  quite  confident  that  the 
casual  remark  on  which  you  based  your  broad  assertion  referred 
to  a  remarriage  following  separation  by  divorce,  not  death. 

"  III.  Let  me  state  my  own  conception  of  remarriages  as 
complicating  marital  relations  in  the  other  world. 

"  I  do  not  dispute  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  that  '  in  heaven  there 
is  neither  marrying  nor  giving  in  marriage,'  if  3tou  have  quoted 
His  words  exactly.  And  yet  I  feel  that  there  are  couples  so 
completely  and  happily  united  in  this  world  that  they  will  be 
nearer  and  dearer  to  each  other,  in  the  next,  than  they  would  or 
could  have  been  had  they  failed  to  meet  in  this  life  ;  and  I  think 
these  are  happier  in  either  world  than  though  one  or  both  of 
them  had  remarried.  I  do  not  hold  that  either  would  have  been 
culpable  in  remarrying  if  widowed  on  this  planet ;  I  only  insist 
that  they  will  both  rejoice  —  and  with  reason  —  in  their  higher 
life,  that  neither  in  this  life  was  married  a  second  time. 

"  IV.  You  are  entirely,  eminently  right,  Mr.  Editor,  in  assert- 
ing that  my  conviction  of  the  proper  indissolubility  of  marriage 
is  the  mainspring  of  my  hostility  to  woman  suffrage  and  to  the 
social  philosophy  from  which  many  vainly  seek  to  separate  the 
woman  movement.  Though  I  have  written  or  dictated  very 
little  of  what  has  during  the  last  ten  years  been  printed  as 


200  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

editorial  in  the  '  Tribune '  on  this  subject,  it  is  nevertheless  true 
that  my  conception  of  the  nature  and  scope  of  the  marriage 
relation  renders  my  conversion  to  woman  suffrage  a  moral  im- 
possibility. 

"  I  have  but  two  left  of  seven  children,  and  these  are  both 
daughters.  I  would  gladly  fit  them  for  lives  of  usefulness  and 
honor,  as  beloved  and  loving  wives  of  virtuous,  upright,  noble 
men,  and  mothers,  if  it  shall  please  God,  of  good,  healthy, 
happy  children.  If  it  be  decreed  that  they  are  to  be,  not  such 
women  as  those  I  have  most  admired  and  reverenced,  but  men 
with  a  female  physique  —  powerful  in  ward  caucuses  and  nom- 
inating conventions,  vehement  in  senate  and  on  the  stump,  and 
effective  before  juries  in  the  trial  of  actions  for  crim.  con.  —  I 
pray  that  my  career  on  this  globe  shall  close  before  theirs  is 
fairly  begun.  When  and  where  they  shall  thus  shine,  it  will  not 
be  pleasant  for  me  to  stay. 

"  Mr.  Editor,  I  believe  our  own  countrymen  are  indebted  to 
you  for  having  discovered  (perhaps  I  should  say  invented)  me 
as  a  possible  (though  most  improbable)  candidate  for  the  Pres- 
idency. Allow  me,  then,  to  thank  you  for  your  early  and  frank 
demonstration  that  I  can  in  no  contingency  be  counted  on  or 
hoped  for  as  a  woman  suffrage  candidate.  As  you  forcibly  and 
justly  say,  there  is  not  even  a  remote  possibility  of  my  ulti- 
mately adapting  myself  to  this  end.  My  difference  with  your 
crowd  is  too  vital,  too  radical,  to  permit  the  most  sanguine 
dreamer  to  hope  for  my  conversion.  I  am  growing  old ;  my 
opinions  are  tolerably  firm  ;  and  the  advanced  female  of  the 
Laura  Fair  type,  who  kills  the  paramour  of  whom  she  claims 
to  be  the  rightful  affinity,  and  gives  the  lie  in  open  court  to  the 
wife  she  has  doubly  widowed,  is  my  pet  aversion. 

"  But  why  should  any  man  be  the  candidate  for  President  of 
the  woman  suffragists  ?  Logically  and  consistently,  I  feel  that 
their  candidate  should  be  a  woman.  She  ought,  moreover,  to 
be  one  thoroughly  emancipated  from  the  "  absurdity  and  folly," 
the  "  narrowness,"  and  the  "  baleful  conservatism,"  which  I  am 
now  too  old  to  outgrow.  Could  you  not  find  one  who  illustrates 
in  her  own  person  and  history  what  you  so  felicitously  term  '  the 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE.  201 

liberal  thought  of  an  enlightened  age  "  ?  Let  her  be  one  who 
has  two  husbands  after  a  sort,  and  lives  in  the  same  house  with 
them  both,  sharing  the  couch  of  one,  but  bearing  the  name  of 
the  other  (to  indicate  her  impartiality  perhaps),  and  cause  and 
candidate  will  be  so  fitly  mated  that  there  will  be  no  occasion, 
even  under  the  most  liberal,  progressive,  enlightened  regime, 
to  sue  for  their  divorce.  Could  not  one  of  this  class  be  per- 
suaded to  overbear  her  shrinking  modesty  and  nominate  herself? 

"  In  a  spirit  of  hearty  hatred  for  free  love  and  all  its  infernal 
delusions, 

"  I  remain  yours,  Horace  Greeley. 

"  Tribune  Office,  Aug.  7,  1871." 


CHAPTER  XTV. 

Ik  consequence  of  the  almost  universally  diseased  state  of  hu- 
man love-nature  in  this  civilized  world,  but  especially  in  these 
United  States,  and  particularly  in  New  England,  people,  the 
majority  of  whom  are  females,  have  gone  daft,  and  given  birth 
and  currencj'  to  a  vast  deal  of  unhealthy  thought,  all  bearing 
more  or  less  directly  upon  love,  marriage,  and  divorce ;  and 
scores  of  long-haired,  lantern-jawed  philosophers  yelp,  howl,  and 
whine  out,  year  after  year,  from  the  public  rostra  of  the  land, 
long  and  insane  demands  for  social  revolutions  ;  and  deliver 
themselves  of  absurd  propositions  and  wild,  delirious  dreams 
of  social  reorganization,  which,  by  their  very  greenness,  are 
wholly  unachievable. 

These  male  ladies  are  backed,  flanked,  and  encouraged  by  an 
equally  wild  and  loony  regiment  of  strong-minded  sisters,  of 
vinegar  aspect,  blue-stocking  dominance,  and  free-love  pro- 
clivities and  tendency,  and  when  they  catch  a  fool  —  practice  ; 
each  wing  of  which,  all  the  year  round,  from  public  platforms, 
shamelessly  advocate  the  annihilation  of  marriage,  and  the  sub- 
stitution of  do-as-you-please  notions,  —  all  of  which  are  rotten, 
hideous,  and  so  utterly  revolutionary,  that  were  they  to  become 


202  WOMAN,   LOVE)   AND  MARRIAGE. 

the  world's  creed  for  a  single  year,  would  land  the  race  into  a 
chaotic  state  compared  to  which  the  barbarisms  of  the  Goths 
and  Vandals,  with  Attila  and  Genseric  at  their  head,  flanked  by 
Vitellus  and  Nero  of  Rome,  were  the  highest,  noblest  civiliza- 
tion. The  public  authorities  wink — and  wickedly  too  —  at 
all  these  awful  and  blasphemous  perversions  of  truth,  and  suffer 
the  maniacs  to  howl  out  their  abominations  undisturbed,  to  the 
edification  of  other  maniacs,  and  the  delectation  of  sickly -minded 
fools  and  inal-contents  of  either  gender,  and  to  the  annual  utter 
ruin  of  countless  thousands  of  the  young,  unread,  inexperienced 
greenies  of  both  sexes,  who  are  led  by  morbid  curiosity — the 
same  which  urges  people  to  witness  a  lynching,  cock-fight,  exe- 
cution, or  boxing  bout — to  listen,  and  be  lost.  Both  these 
sections  of  long,  lean,  lank  and  lantern-jawed  fanatics  and  mad 
people  are  desperately  intent  upon  disrupting  social  life  from 
its  very  foundations,  and  making  outrageous  and  foolhardy 
experiments  in  social  polity,  calculated,  in  their  blind  opinion, 
to  restore  the  golden  age  —  if  ever  such  existed  —  on  principles 
embracing  the  two  extremes  of  fanaticisms,  from  the  abomi- 
nable and  outrageous  systems  of  Noyes,  Andrews,  Boyd,  Brig- 
ham  Young,  et  als.,  to  the  ridiculous  and  absurd  ones  of  the 
celibate  and  dried-up  Shakerism  of  the  age,  which,  in  an  oppo- 
site direction,  is  even  more  injurious  in  one  or  two  of  its  effects 
upon  the  individual  and  society  at  large,  than  the  indecent 
Pantogamy,  or  complex  marriage,  or  modern  changee  for  chan- 
geeism. 

All  these  people  forget,  or  ignore,  the  fact  that  all  things, 
earthly  and  heavenly  too,  hang  upon  and  hinge  on  the  Me  as 
supreme  centre  of  all ;  that  all  human  effort  is  toward  the  hap- 
piness of  this  grand  multiple  Me  ;  and  that  no  joy  can  come  to 
it  save  through  the  mutual  play  of  the  forces  of  the  multiple 
unit  upon  the  single  unit,  and  vice  versa;  that  individualism, 
while  maintaining  itself,  must  devote  its  energies  to  justly  and 
fairly  promoting  the  interests  of  all  the  other  units,  not  a  part 
or  fraction  ;  hence  that  schemes  of  reform  which  antagonize  the 
interests  of  all  other  units  save  the  few  in  accord  with  the  par- 
tialism  must  fail,  because  opposed  by  the  grand  law  of  human 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  203 

unity  and  democracy  of  interests  underlying  the  entire  social 
fabric.  Hence  any  S)-stem  looking  to  other  than  general  re- 
construction of  the  habits,  morals,  and  so  on,  of  the  single  Me's 
of  the  universal  Me,  is  worthless,  and  the  breath  spent  in  pro- 
claiming them  worse  than  wasted.  The  world  can  never  be 
rebuilt  until  it  becomes  inpossible  for  Mr.  Boarland  to  swindle 
Miss  Green  into  wedlock  under  the  impression  that  he's  a  man, 
and  that  what  he  offers  is  love  ;  when  in  fact  he's  no  such  thing, 
and  his  wares  are  counterfeit. 

When  the  graves  give  up  their  dead  and  the  murdered  are  all 
duly  classified,  there  will  be  a  frightful  host  of  Misses  Green 
clamoring  for  justice  at  the  bar  of  God  ;  and  not  a  few  will 
point  their  pale,  thin,  wasted  fingers  at  the  crouching  philoso- 
phers, exclaiming,  "  Thou  didst  it !  thy  teachings  ruined  us. 
Thy  unholy  schemes  of  social  reform,  based  on  selfishness  and 
fired  by  lust,  laid  waste  our  hearts,  blighted  our  hopes,  and 
brought  millions  of  us  to  untimely  graves  !  " 

Think  of  a  coarse-minded  man  being  entrusted  alone  for  life, 
with  a  delicate,  finestrung  woman.  A  man  so  selfishly  blinded 
that  he  fails  to  comprehend  the  meaning  of  the  phrases  mar- 
riage-union, —  oneness  in  allness  !  —  and  that  it  requires,  on  the 
part  of  any  husband,  anxious  to  promote  domestic  felicity,  a  great 
deal  of  genuine  care,  effort,  and  tenderness,  on  his  part,  to  evoke 
physiological  reciprocity  of  feeling  in  a  wife  of  almost  any  class 
of  the  middle  and  higher  orders  of  our  day  ;  for  many  of  their 
natures  are  too  delicate,  lofty  and  refined,  and  their  metaphysi- 
cal value  too  great,  to  permit  a  very  ready  or  quick  descent 
into  the  more  contracted  domain  of  the  purely  sensuous.  And 
yet  these  are  the  very  beings,  of  all  others,  who  become  inex- 
pressibly dear  on  those  planes,  when  they  are  by  love  lured  from 
their  heights  ;  for  there  are  mysteries  of  joy  in  their  sacred  keep- 
ing unknown  to  coarser  mortals,  and  climaxes  and  acmes, 
heights,  depths  and  intensities  of  domestic  happifiedness  are 
reached,  which  -.are  forever  unattainable  under  any  other  con- 
ditions ! 

Such  wives  —  ay,  nearly  all  wives  —  are,  or  can  be,  easily 
moulded  into,  and  of,  the  heavens  heavenly ;  but  never  by  any 


204  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

member  of  the  extensive  Boarland  family,  until  such  effect 
radical  changes  in  their  habitudes  and  characters  ;  for  other- 
wise the  inner,  higher,  profounder  mysteries  of  woman  and  her 
heart  and  senses  remain  sealed  books  forever ! 

Such  lords  insist  upon  remaining  as  created  to  their  ladies, 
the  consequence  of  which  is  that  churclryards  and  cemeteries 
abound  with  the  bodies  of  the  latter ;  and  rum-holes  with  those 
of  the  former ;  while  the  emancipated  souls  of  the  wives  wing 
back  their  flight  through  the  JEth,  to  the  constellar  Paradises 
of  Restful  Space,  where,  thank  God !  the  Boarland  family  is 
wholly  unknown.     As  for  the  soul  of  the  head  of  such  a  house, 

—  he  has  one,  but  put  it  in  the  eye  of  a  cambric  needle,  and  it 
would  have  more  room  to  exercise  in  than  would  a  grasshopper 
in  a  forty-acre  lot,  —  what  little  there  is  of  it,  incites  him  to 
come  the  killing  smile  again,  don  gay  attire,  and  assume  his 
most  fascinating  airs,  wherewith  to  delude  some  other  fay  into 
what  he  calls  marriage ;  and  in  a  year  or  two  more  half  regret- 
fully pays  another  doctor's  and  undertaker's  bill  for  services 
rendered  in  her  behalf. 

The  question  is :  Why  is  this  so  ?  Is  it  not  a  natural  law 
that  the  weaker  should  lean  upon,  and  draw  strength  and  vital- 
ity from,  the  confessedly  stronger?     The  reply  is:  Sometimes 

—  where  true  Love  reigns  ;  not  always  even  then,  and  never 
under  the  most  common  state  of  things  in  modern  marriage- 
land.  For  it  so  happens  that  a  person  who  is  both  strong  and 
coarse  in  texture  invariably  draws  out,  —  insensibly  absorbs 
from,  and  lives,  to  a  great  extent,  upon  the  finer  nervo-vital 
fluids  —  the  auraform  vif  or  life  —  the  nervous  quintessence  of 
one  constructed  of  less  gross  and  coarse  materials,  and  whose 
organization,  physical  and  mental,  is  of  a  more  sensitive  and 
delicate  grade.  Where  two  such  badly  adapted  opposites  live 
together  —  for  it  is  hardly  possible  that  a  couple  like  that  can 
ever  love  together,  or  that  the  higher  laws  of  marriage  can  rule 
and  reign,  —  the  finer  one,  which  is  generally,  but  not  always, 
the  woman,  is  sure,  sooner  or  later,  to  go  to  the  wall.  Such  an  one 
may  linger  a  comparatively  long  time,  but  the  bitter  end  must 
come  at  last,  and  the  frail  one  perish  from  the  earth,  unless  the 


WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  205 

weaker  one  is  wise  enough  to  comprehend  the  situation,  and 
takes  measures  to  cut  off  the  drain,  and  nullify  the  fatal  leech- 
ment. 

All  of  us,  to  a  greater  extent  than  we  wot  of,  are  dependent 
upon  electric  and  magnetic  conditions.  Who  is  there  not  famil- 
iar with  the  exhilarating  effects  and  the  depressive  influences 
of  different  winds,  —  East,  South,  and  North  especially,  —  and 
equally  effected  also  by  the  physical  and  mental  atmospheres 
of  certain  individuals  ?  One  person  will  excite  another  in  every 
way,  while  that  other  is,  toward  a  third  one,  cold  as  Nova 
Zembla's  ice.  Well,  this  is  the  result  of  organization  ;  but  both 
classes  of  effects  are  preventible  by  the  steady  will. 

The  coarse  always  tends  toward  the  fine,  and  the  fine  to  per- 
vade the  coarse.  The  coarse  person  wants  naturally  to  be 
finer ;  the  fine  does  not  want  to  be  coarse  ;  hence  gives  its  life  to 
the  coarse,  but  gets  back  nothing  save  exhaustion  in  return ; 
while  the  coarse  drinks  up  and  consumes  the  fine,  therefore 
increases  in  power  at  the  expense  of  the  delicate  graded  being. 
Such  mismatches  are  common  the  wide  world  over ;  and  the 
organizations  of  each  class  are  determined  by  conditions  pre- 
cedent to  birth  ;  for  three-tenths  of  mankind  are  the  results  of 
make-ups  after  family  tempests;  three  other  tenths  are  the  off- 
spring of  mutual  or  one-sided  physical  passion ;  three-tenths 
from  mixed  conditions  ;  and  one-tenth  only  are  the  result  of 
mutually  genuine  love  !  but  then  that  tenth  rules  the  world  of 
mind,  morals,  religion,  letters,  art,  and  is  the  sole  fountain  of 
all  human  culture ;  because  it  contains  and  embraces  all  the 
absolutely  human  beiugs,  strictly  speaking.,  on  the  planet ;  for 
no  one  is  veritably  human  unless  he  or  she  is  a  gentleman  or 
lady  in  grain  and  in  very  truth,  —  and  such,  mind  you,  —  are 
very  scarce !  such  persons  are  born  civilized  in  the  true  sense, 
and  are  masters  and  mistresses  of  every  situation  of  life,  from 
the  cradle  to  the  grave,  and  especially  those  involving  love  and 
the  master  passions  of  the  human  being. 

Owing  to  conditions  over  which  we  have  no  control,  some  of 
us  are  born  with  a  chronic  lust  in  our  very  bones ;  and,  if  we 


206  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

fall  by  leason  thereof,  having  done  our  best  to  stand  firm,  we 
"will  find  pity  in  God's  heart  if  not  in  that  of  fellow-man. 

Others  of  us  are  born  with  an  overplus  of  genuine  love,  and 
the  chances  are  that  we  are  natural  polygamists  and  polyan- 
drists,  desperately  in  love  with  all  the  world,  and  the  rest  of 
man  or  woman  kind.  That's  a  fault  on  the  right  side  if  we 
don't  carry  it  too  far  and  —  that's  all.  For  our  danger  lies  in 
the  fact  that  everybody  spontaneously  falls  in  love  with  tjs  in 
such  cases,  and  for  our  lives  we  can't  help  returning  it  to  some 
degree  at  least. 

Still  others  of  us  come  to  the  world  perfectly  neutral,  loving 
one  about  as  well  as  another,  like  a  horse  who  goes  in  for  oats, 
whether  first,  second,  or  fiftieth  grade  or  quality  ;  he  means 
oats,  that's  all ! 

Again,  there  are  those  who  are  born  on  mental  ridges,  and 
who  can't  love  any  one  not  on  the  same  elevation,  or  out  of 
their  peculiar  groove. 

Then  there  are  people,  men  especially,  born  without  any  love 
at  all,  or  any  desire  for  it,  nor  can  they  form  the  slightest  idea 
what  love  really  means  ;  men  who  are  perfectly  ignorant  of  all 
things  of  soul,  and  who  go  about  love-making  as  market-men 
their  business,  not  realizing  that  a  woman  requires  politeness  in 
a  lover,  respect,  complaisance,  gallantry,  tenderness,  non-bold- 
ness, yet  non-timidity ;  and,  above  all,  straight  up  and  down 
manliness  of  character  and  demeanor.  "Women,  too,  are  faulty  ; 
for  most  of  them,  in  these  days,  are  altogether  too  self-con- 
scious, and,  by  their  actions,  give  a  man  to  understand  that 
they  place  a  far  greater  value  on  their  charms  of  person  than 
upon  their  qualities  of  heart,  soul,  mind,  and  affection. 

Woman  is  quick  to  observe  effects  even  though  unqualified  to 
recognize  and  measure  causes  ;  and  she  quite  readily  detects 
and  admires  the  elements  of  a  true  manhood,  and  that  wholly 
outside  of  the  prospect  of  availability  so  far  as  her  individual 
self  is  concerned  ;  and  just  as  instinctively  and  readily,  even 
though  silence  seals  her  lips,  does  she  despise  a  male  weakling, 
—  childhood,  disease,  and  charity  aside, —  a  creature  in  the 
faint  semblance  of,  but  who,  in  reality,  is  not  half,  not  even  a 


woman;  love,  and  marriage.  207 

good-sized  piece  of  a  Man ;  an  animal  sui  generis,  but  abound- 
ing, especially  in  the  large  centres  of  so-called  civilization  ;  a 
thing  of  whose  presence  a  real  woman  is  scarcely  aware  till  ap- 
prised of  the  shadowy  fact !  On  the  other  hand  that  self-same 
woman,  and  all  like  unto  herself,  inwardly  adore  the  free- 
hearted, generous,  full-souled  man  of  energ}r,  with  refinement, 
the  being  of  her  heart's  ideal,  —  a  gentleman  !  —  the  ripe  man- 
hood, capable  of  worthily  winning,  and  manfully,  regally,  wear- 
ing the  love  of  a  woman  like  herself!  She  doats  in  her  soul, 
on  the  being  who,  always  tender,  never  rude,  harsh,  exacting, 
grovelling,  or  inconsiderate  ;  who,  in  the  hour  of  Love,  is  full 
of  gentle  tenderness,  nobility,  self-restraint,  empurpled  and 
ermined  royal  manhood ;  one  who,  in  the  day  of  trial  and 
trouble,  will  be  found  wearable,  steadfast,  unflinching,  resolute 
and  courageous  to  bear  the  brunt  of  life's  battle  and  win  it,  if 
possible,  against  all  odda,  —  and  who,  if  beaten,  falls  with  his 
face  to  the  foe,  and  if  he  dies,  dies  game.  Such  a  man  is  worth 
more  to  the  world  than  forty  quintillions  of  the  social  lobsters 
of  the  age  in  which  we  exist ;  for  but  very  few  of  us  really  live, 
but  only  stay,  and,  for  want  of  homes,  are  forced  to  "  board," 
and  take  an  overplus  of  hash,  compounded  of  human  fish,  flesh, 
fowl ,  and  bad  red  herring,  in  lieu  of  the  solids  we've  a  right  to. 


"  My  Rosa,  from  the  latticed  grove, 

Brought  me  a  sweet  bouquet  of  posies, 
And  asked,  as  round  my  neck  she  clung, 

If  tulips  I  preferred  to  roses. 
1 1  cannot  tell,  sweet  wife,'  I  sighed, 

'  But  kiss  me  ere  I  see  the  posies.' 
She  did.     '  Oh,  I  prefer,'  I  cried, 

'  Thy  two  lips  to  a  dozen  roses.' " 


"  I  heard  a  judge  his  tipstaff  call, 
And  say,  '  Sir,  I  desire 
You  go  forthwith  and  search  the  hall, 
And  send  me  in  my  crier.' 


208  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE. 

"  'And  search,  my  lord,  in  vain  I  may,' 
The  tipstaff  gravely  said ; 
'  The  crier  cannot  cry  to-day, 
Because  his  wife  is  dead.'" 

And  there's  more  of  the  latter  than  the  former  to  be  found  in 
the  world  ;  and,  indeed,  the  first  is  but  the  general  honeymoon- 
ness  of  which  the  latter  is  the  settling-downity. 

Said  one  who  had  become  sick  of  life  because  love  had  not  ful- 
filled its  mission,  and  who  therefore  was  a  wretched  ennuyee  :  — 

"  The  longer  life,  the  more  offence ; 

The  more  offence,  the  greater  pain ; 
The  greater  pain,  the  less  defence  ; 

The  less  defence,  the  lesser  gain  — 
The  loss  of  gain  long  ill  doth  try, 
Wherefore,  come  death,  and  let  me  die ! 

*'  The  shorter  life,  less  count  I  find ; 

The  less  account,  the  sooner  made ; 
The  count  soon  made,  the  merrier  mind ; 

The  merrier  mind  doth  thought  invade  — 
Short  life,  in  truth,  this  thing  doth  try, 
Wherefore,  come  death,  and  let  me  die  ! 

*'  Come,  gentle  death,  the  ebb  of  care ; 

The  ebb  of  care,  the  flood  of  life ; 
The  flood  of  life,  the  joyful  fare ; 

The  joyful  fare,  the  end  of  strife  — 
The  end  of  strife,  that  thing  wish  I, 
Wherefore,  come  death,  and  let  me  die  !  " 

Five  hundred  to  one,  ay,  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  a  bad  po- 
tato, that  the  mother  of  that  man  hated  her  husband  with  forty- 
thousand  horse-power !  She  dressed  in  azure,  was  indigo  inside 
and  out,  and  gave  her  son  the  chronic  blues  a  year  before  he  was 
born,  and  nursed  him  on  blue  milk  till  he  was  weaned,  then  fed 
him  on  moral  mulligrubs  till  puberty,  after  which  he  made  an 
ass  of  himself  without  half  trying !  else  he  never  could  have 
written  in  such  a  lugubrious,  church-yardical   strain.     Such  a 


WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  209 

man  —  and  there's  many  a  woman  like  him  —  would  require 
Sam  Welter's  forty  million  double  magnifying  microscope  to  be 
able  to  see  anything  lovely,  glorious  or  beautiful  in  this  foot- 
stool of  the  Eternal.  Such  a  being  is  nine-tenths  blind 
both  to  the  world's  realities,  and  the  myriad  loves  within  the 
reach  of  every  earnest  soul  who  will  but  try  to  win  them.  When 
death  does  come  to  such,  we  miss  them  but  little. 

It  cannot  be  too  often  repeated,  impressed  or  cited,  that  un- 
less a  human  life  is  builded  on  the  divine  passion,  it  is  of  very 
little  worth  to  its  owner  or  anybody  else.  But  we  often  make 
mistakes  and  confound  force  with  power,  power  with  energy, 
friendship  with  esteem,  esteem  with  affection,  magnetic  effluence 
with  love,  and  passion  for  either.  Now  a  few  definitions  will 
help  the  reader  to  distinguish.  Force  is  external.  Power  is  the 
silent,  inner  sense  of  might.  Energy  is  the  consciousness  of 
ability  to  be  and  do  —  a  knowledge  of  the  possession  of  the 
elements  of  victory,  a  conviction  of  personal  resources,  and 
ability  to  move  them  into  action  at  will.  Passion  is  the  desire 
of  mingling,  and  exists  wholly  independent  of  love,  affection, 
friendship,  or  any  other  amiable  quality  —  for  men  have  passion 
without  love,  women  very  seldom  do.  There  is  one  very  re- 
markable fact  in  reference  to  women,  which  is,  that  love  affects 
her  entire  being  for  the  better,  while  a  man  ma}'  truly  love,  and 
yet  be  a  perfect  villain  for  a  long  time,  to  every  one  on  earth 
but  the  object  of  his  affection.  In  time,  of  course,  love  will 
modify  his  character. 

If  a  woman's  affections  are  strongly  engaged,  all  nature  is  a 
play-ground  for  her  soul,  and  under  its  inspiration  she  at  once 
improves  in  every  way,  and  rapidly  too  ;  while  a  man  in  love 
moves  toward  the  good,  the  true,  and  the  right,  but  he  moves  a 
great  deal  more  slowly  in  that  direction  than  a  female,  under 
precisely  similar  circumstances. 

Almost  any  man  will  grow  better  if  made  to  feel  that  his  wife 
really  loves  and  cares  for  him  in  other  matters  than  mere  board 
and  so  forth. 

And  so,  too,  with  almost  any  woman.  But  it  is  dreadful 
poor  encouragement  for  her  to  realize  that  she  is  a  wife  for  fif- 
14 


210  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

teen  minutes,  and  a  slave  and  drudge  for  all  the  balance  of  the 
livelong  week  !  Rather  poor  feed,  that,  for  love  to  thrive  on  ! 
The  man's  a  fool,  and  the  woman  not  much  better,  who  takes 
delight  in  morbidly  scrutinizing  the  imperfections  of  their  part- 
ner, instead  of  the  exact  opposite.  If  we  could  see  what  takes 
place  in  the  kitchen,  we  would  not  so  highly  relish  the  food  set 
before  us  ;  but  as  we  banish  and  ignore  kitchen  thoughts  when 
sitting  at  the  feast,  it  were  not  a  bad  idea  to  copy  when  we  sit 
at  the  banquet  of  life  and  love  ;  for,  depend  upon  it,  the  feast 
itself  is  a  wide  departure  from  the  feast's  base  or  origin,  in  what- 
ever light  you  choose  to  take  it.  It  is  sheer  folly  and  madness 
to  pick  what  little  happiness  we  have  to  pieces  ;  or  to  spend  our 
time  in  hunting  for  flaws  in  another's  character  when  we've  forty- 
thousand  in  our  own. 

Those  lugubrious  whiners  who  imagine  that  God  has  forgot- 
ten his  purpose  in  creation,  because  licentiousness  runs  riot  in 
the  world,  are  but  short-cake  philosophers,  and  are  oblivious  to 
the  fact  of  the  ceaseless  operation  of  corrective  agencies  right 
in  the  midst  of  every  hell  existent ;  and  that  every  infraction 
and  perversion  of  a  love-law  carries  its  death  along  with  it ; 
for  God  and  Nature  have  decreed  that  the  true  shall  live  and 
the  false  shall  perish.  Wherefore  we  see  that  no  solace  of  even 
passion,  other  than  in  the  arms  of  love,  never  did,  and  never  can 
satisfy  a  truly  human  longing ;  for  everything  else  is  a  fearful 
profanation  of  the  holiest  sanctity,  and  is  a  crime  against 
nature  and  God  Himself,  who  instituted  the  passions  for  the 
wisest  of  ends,  and  who  punishes  terribly,  sooner  or  later,  every 
infraction  or  perversion  of  the  sacred  thing,  —  and  there  are 
quite  as  many  of  them  within,  as  without,  wedlock, — quite  as 
many  diabolic  outrages  against  justice,  right,  human  nature 
and  woman  nature,  within  the  pale  of  marriage  as  anywhere 
outside  of  it. 

It  may  be  true  that  all  rejections  are  well-founded  or  war- 
rantable ;  but  where  they  are  —  and  there  is  but  one  sole  judge 
and  umpire,  with  God  and  nature  for  referees  —  then  whoever 
persists  in  an  odious  pursuit  is  a  —  wretch  ! 

He  is  not  much  of  a  man  who  cannot  wait  till  he  is  wanted 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  211 

and  sent  for,  and  then  go  at  the  first  call,  —  to  any  truly  human 
duty,  whatever  be  its  nature  ;  whether  it  fall  within  the  lines  of 
labor,  effort,  charity,  mercy,  justice,  affection,  friendship  or  — 
Love! 

It  is  said,  and  truly,  too,  "  That  a  certain  degree  of  solitude 
seems  necessary  to  the  full  growth  and  development  of  the 
highest  mind  ;  and  therefore  must  a  very  extensive  intercourse 
with  men  stifle  many  a  holy  germ  and  scare  away  the  gods,  who 
shun  the  restless  tumult  of  noisy  companions  and  the  discus- 
sion of  petty  interests." 

If  this  be  so  of  genius,  how  much  more  is  it  of  woman,  whose 
mental  states  create  conditions  of  mind,  and  establish  genius 
on  its  throne  in  the  world  ?  Now  there  are  moments  in  every 
woman's  life  wherein  she  is  too  holy  to  be  spoken  to,  much  less 
handled  or  jarred.  When  she  is  so  jarred,  the  waves  roll  out 
and  the  world  is  sure  to  hear  and  feel  them  ;  even  if  it  waits  a 
hundred  years  for  it  —  come  it  will.  Many  a  war  has  been 
waged  which  took  its  rise  fifty  years  before  in  the  mind  of  some 
woman,  who,  being  disturbed,  felt  fight,  bred  fight,  gave  fight 
to  the  world  in  the  shape  of  a  man —  the  incarnation  of  Fight, 
and  who  could  never  be  happy  except  when  fight  ruled  his  life- 
Such  things,  if  attended  to,  will  not  fail  to  work  out  better 
results  for  the  world  than  the  world  dreams  of  yet ;  for  the 
earth  cannot  be  peopled  with  either  devils  or  angels  except  by 
woman's  aid.  She  is  the  head-centre  above  all.  And  all  that 
is  needed  is  perfect  reciprocity,  in  affectional  as  in  other  mat- 
ters between  husbands  and  wives.  Then  will  the  well  of  life 
yield  its  sweetest  waters,  to  slake  the  immortal  thirst  within  us. 
The  impetuous  precipitance  so  common  in  affectional  mat- 
ters in  these  days  is  hardly  the  thing  suited  to  the  delicate 
nature  of  any  woman,  much  less  a  refined  one.  People  in  these 
days  can  scarcely  understand  what  is  meant  by  the  words,  the 
sweet  demise  of  Love. 

A  word  now  to  women  !  The  mode  or  method  of  surrender- 
ing is  a  spell  by  which  the  good  graces  and  enduring  tenderness 
of  a  genuine  husband  are  secured !  and  even  a  false  one,  —  and 


212  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

heaven  knows  their  multitude  bids  defiance  to  arithmetic, — 
really  surpassing  that  of  imitation  wives,  —  may  be  recon- 
structed into  something  akin  to  what  the  word  really  means. 
Nor  let  it  be  forgotten  that  the  very  ardor  of  true  love  acquires 
new  strength  in  the  plenitude  of  a  genuine,  but  not  abused, 
voluptuousness. 

When  married  people  continue  lovers,  there  is  no  end  to  their 
joy ;  and  over  the  lintels  of  their  doors  may  in  very  truth  be 
posted  the  celebrated  inscription  found  over  the  entrance  of  a 
maison  de  joie  in  ruined  Pompeii,  "  Hie  Habet  Felicitas  ! " 
(Here  happiness  dwells  !)  But  then,  right  opposite  the  door  of 
that  ancient  bawdy-house  was  the  entrance  to  the  temple  of  the 
Vestal  Virgins.  The  street  was  narrow  and  paved  with  heavy 
blocks  of  lava,  —  something  quite  as  hard  as  glass,  —  and  over 
that  pavement  went  alike,  those  who  did  homage  at  Virtue  and 
Chastity's  shrine,  and  those  who  worshipped  at  one  the  direct 
opposite.  The  pavement  reaching  to  the  Vestal  shrine  was 
scarcely  worn;  while  that  just  over  the  way  was  worn  out! 
showing  that  human  nature  then  —  over  two  thousand  years  ago 
—  was  pretty  much  the  same  crooked  stick  we  find  it  to-day, 
especially  as  regards  the  young  of  the  male  sex,  ay,  and  the 
female  too,  for  that  matter.  But  then  there  are  twenty  male 
debauchees  to  one  female,  the  wide  world  over ;  hence,  in  that 
respect,  there  is  at  least  twenty  times  more  virtue  among  women 
than  men !  Now  the  ladies  reading  that  will  be  apt  to  clap 
their  hands  and  crow  over  this  statement  with  "  There  !  I  told 
you  so.  I  knew  it  all  along ! "  Stop  a  moment.  One  male 
libertine,  if  successful,  may  carry  his  point  in  a  life-time  with, 
say  forty  virtuous  women.  But  one  female  libertine  will  in- 
veigle and  ruin  from  threescore  to  five  hundred  decent  men, 
young  and  old,  in  a  career  of  twenty  years,  if  she  be  magnetic 
and  beautiful,  along  with  her  abandone  and  artfulness ;  and  so 
far  as  the  numerical  ruin  is  concerned  the  women  surpass  the 
men,  case  for  case.  True  it  is  that  the  victims  of  the  men 
often  go  crazy  and  kill  themselves  ;  but,  per  contra,  the  female 
libertine  spreads  desolation  far  and  wide  and  on  all  hands,  for 
she  not  only  contaminates  the  minds  of  young  men,  but  breaks 


WOMAN,    LOVE,  AND   MARRIAGE.  213 

up  families,  and  scatters  despair  at  the  firesides  of  millions,  in 
a  moral  point  of  view ;  nor  does  her  infernal  mission  stop  even 
at  that  point ;  for  she  spreads  an  awful  plague  of  sickness  over 
the  land,  and  poisons  not  only  erring  husbands,  but  their  inno- 
cent wives,  and  sends  down  the  damnation  of  disease  to  future 
generations  in  the  flesh  and  bone  of  millions  of  innocent  unborn 
babes  !  For  rank  devilment  commend  us  to  one  bad  woman ! 
for  she  can  give  odds,  yet  hold  her  own,  and  win  the  hell-prize 
against  any  ten  men  ever  yet  born  of  woman ;  for  of  all  con- 
ceivable demons,  a  she-one  is  immeasurably  the  worst,  because 
her  capacity  for  evil,  for  murder  and  villany,  is  tenfold  that  of 
any  man  that  breathes  God's  fresh  ah",  or  treads  the  soil  of  this 
green  earth ! 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Concerning  genuine  Man  or  Womanhood,  nothing  is  more 
certain  than  that  they  find  their  truest,  best  and  loftiest  devel- 
opment through  antagonism.     Says  some  one  :  — 

"  A  certain  amount  of  opposition  is  of  great  help  to  a  man. 
Kites  rise  against  the  wind,  and  not  with  the  wind  ;  even  a  bad 
wind  is  better  than  none.  No  man  ever  worked  his  passage 
anywhere  in  a  dead  calm.  Let  no  man  wax  pale,  therefore,  be- 
cause of  opposition  ;  opposition  is  what  he  wants,  and  must  have 
to  be  good  for  anything.  Hardship  is  the  native  soil  of  man- 
hood and  self-reliance." 

Just  so  it  is  in  affairs  of  the  heart.  A  love  without  storms, 
one  with  clear  skies  and  flowery  paths  all  the  time,  does  not 
amount  to  much !  An  affection  that  has  never  been  put  to  the 
test  needs  that  testing  to  consolidate  its  bones,  and  make  its 
tendons  strong  and  lasting.  True  love  and  heartache  go  to- 
gether ;  and  a  love  in  which  physical  passion  enters  as  a  prime 
element  —  and  any  sensible  woman  can  tell  that  by  the  huski- 
ness  of  voice  and  cotton-spitting  of  her  "  lover,"  any  night  when 
they  are  walking  out  together  !  —  is  a  base  counterfeit,  and  its 


214  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

professor  should  be  shown  the  door  the  carpenter  made,  in 
double-quick  time  ;  for  although  ardent  attraction  must  accom- 
pany love  between  couples,  yet  ever  as  a  subsidiary  element ; 
never  as  a  prime  one  ! 

If  a  man  really  loves  a  woman,  there  is  no  degree  of  self- 
restraint  but  he  will  endure  for  her  sweet  sake.  We  read  that 
Adam  was  successfully  tempted  to  eat  the  forbidden  fruit  long 
after  he  had  conquered  his  own  appetite  for  apples,  and  suc- 
cessfully resisted  the  blandishments  and  high  priori  inducements 
of  Mr.  Devil  —  the  no-legged  vagabond,  who  wormed  himself 
into  Eve's  confidence,  and  influenced  her  to  ruin  the  man  she 
loved,  — just  as  forty  millions  of  Eves  are  doing  to-day  —  quite 
as  successfully,  only  that  the  Devil  has  grown  wiser  of  late,  and 
calls  himself"  Fashion  ; "  "  Society  ;  "  "  Dress,"  etc.,  etc.,  — the 
old  wretch ! 

People  —  on  Sundaj^s —  berate  the  devil,  and  rave  at  Adam 
because  he  ate,  and  was  snaked  out  of  Eden  in  consequence  ; 
but  then  Adam  did  perfectly  right,  if  he  loved  his  bride !  for 
any  man  who  wouldn't  bite  an  apple  —  or  a  file  either  —  at  the 
behest  of  the  handsomest  woman  ever  completed,  and  that 
woman  his  wife,  and  right  in  the  fore  part  of  the  honeymoon  at 
that,  is  a  fool !  —  which  Adam  was  not. 

Says  Seyton  May  :  — 


When  Eve,  beguiled,  did  taste  the  fruit 

That  wrecked  her,  what  did  Adam  do? 
Awhile  he  stood,  in  horror  mute, 
Then  —  tasted  too  I 


"  '  I  love  thee ! '  so  he  spoke  at  last, 
'  And  what  thy  future  fate  may  be, 
I  know  not,  care  not  —  for  the  past, 
I  go  with  thee ! ' 

"  Man's  love  !     Was  ever  love  like  this? 
Still  Paradise  remained  his  own, 
But  all,  he  turned  from  all  its  bliss, 
For  her  alone ! 


WOMAX,   LOVE,   AND   MAURI  AGE.  215 

"  And  angels  bent,  amazed  to  know, 

While  broken  thus  the  Sovereign  plan, 
How  Love,  their  crown,  is,  even  in  woe, 
The  crown  of  Man !  " 

But  by  eating  that  unfortunate  fruit  the  whole  human  race 
fell,  did  it  not?  Yes,  —  fell  r^-hill !  and  has  been  falling  that 
self-same  way  ever  since,  supposing  the  legend  to  be  literally 
true,  which,  considering  the  vestiges  of  Pre-Adamite  man  now 
found  all  over  the  globe,  not  every  well-read  person  is  willing 
to  maintain,  looked  at  in  the  light  of  modern  science.  If  he 
fell  he  fell  by  love,  and  love  put  him  on  his  feet  again  —  and 
set  him  up  in  business  besides. 

Suppose  we  accept  the  story,  and  reason  it  out  a  little.  It 
can  be  shown  —  in  the  light  of  science,  of  course  —  quite 
clearly,  that  the  forbidden  apple  did  more  for  Adam  and  the 
race,  than  that  other,  equally  mythical  one  did  for  Newton  and 
science.  And  here  is  the  logic  of  it,  —  high  priori,  of  course, 
albeit  for  Adam  was  all  a  posteriori  —  with  a  vengeance.  If 
the  idea  of  "  progress  "  is  true,  then  the  protoplast  or  autoch- 
thone,  was  a  barbarian ;  lived  in  a  garden ;  shelterless,  save 
by  trees ;  nude,  etc. ;  grew  curious,  inquisitive  ;  went  for  that 
apple  ;  rather  liked  it ;  had  a  family  as  the  result  of  curiosity  ; 
had  to  go  to  work  to  support  it ;  left  Eden  —  the  garden  be- 
hind, to  travel  toward  Paradise,  the  garden  ahead !  The 
Adamses  turned  tillers  of  the  soil  —  albeit  they're  in  the  express 
business  now  !  Thus  one  grand  science  —  Agriculture  —  had 
its  birth,  and  the  field  was  open  for  Horace  Greeley  to  tell  the 
world  "  What  I  know  about  Farming."  The  eyes  of  the  Adam 
Family  —  who  were  not  A-dam  family,  even  if  circumstances 
did  go  against  them  apparently  —  were  opened  ;  Shame  was 
born,  and  Tailoring  and  Millinery  begun.  Being  driven  from 
the  garden,  Adam  had  to  prepare  a  shelter  for  his  wife  and  fam- 
ily, and  did  so  by  twisting  treelet-tops  together,  forming  a 
bower,  and  developing  the  first  ideas  of  the  Arch  —  Archi- 
tecture ;  hut,  house,  hamlet,  village,  town,  city,  palace,  civ- 
ilization ;  necessitating  labor,  art,  science,  invention,  trade, 
commerce,  and  means  to  carry  on  the  latter,  rafts,  canoes,  dug- 


216  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

outs,  row-boats,  sail-boats,  sloops,  schooners,  brigs,  barks, 
ships,  frigates,  steamboats,  Great  Easterns,  and  of  course 
aesthetics,  law,  politics,  morals,  poetry,  religion,  philosophy ! 
Great  heaven  !  what  wonderful  things  did  not  come  of  eating 
that  apple  —  Eve's  curiosity  —  the  snake  —  the  devil  —  and  the 
world  as  it  is  to-day  !  What's  the  key  to  the  mystery  ?  Why, 
Love,  to  be  sure  —  the  mighty  love  that  naked,  hairy,  uncouth, 
barbarian  Adam  had  for  the  slender,  wilful,  pettish,  offish, 
but  dear  and  delightful  creature  who  stood  by  his  side,  and 
made  him  even  forget  his  God  for  her !  just  as  three-fifths  of 
his  sons  have  ever  since  and  will,  till  time  shall  be  no  more ; 
the  only  trouble  about  the  matter  being  to  have  all  the  Eves 
right,  and  then  the  Adams  are  sure  to  be  so  likewise. 

When  Love  was  born,  —  when  Cupid  and  Psyche  fused  and 
blended, — hell  began  to  tremble,  the  wilderness  to  blossom, 
heaven  to  expand  its  area,  souls  to  grow  and  the  good  time  get 
ready  to  come  —  right  straight  along  ! 

We  are  told  by  "  philosophers  "  that  man  and  all  other  created 
things  are  on  a  common  footing ;  that  no  law  but  choice  and 
chance  ought  to  govern  the  relations  of  the  sexes  from  man  down- 
ward ;  that  man  is  realty  at  liberty  to  do  as  he  pleases  —  so  long 
as  he  don't  get  caught  at  it  —  or  run  his  train  against  a  brick  wall. 
Such  stuff  they  teach ;  but  you  just  let  one  of  the  same  creed 
play  that  game  with  Mr.  Philosopher's  wife  and  daughters,  — 
and  will  he  smile  ?  You  bet  he  won't !  But  he  will  go  whining, 
raving  about  the  land,  button-holing  everybody  who  will  listen 
to  him  with :  — 

"  Oh,  it  is  —  an  orrible  t-a-l-e, 
'Twill  make  your  faces  —  all  turn  p-a-l-e  "  — 

proving  he  is  a  lying  scamp  inside  and  out  —  now  that  he  has 
found  out  how  the  bad  thing  works  himself ;  no  matter  by  what 
sort  of  velvet  and  satiu  names  the  vices  he  expounds  as  virtues 
are  called.  He  knows,  we  know,  that  his  Pandora's  box  is  full 
to  the  brim  of  woe-seeds,  every  one  of  which  is  heavily  fecund 
of  evil  in  an  hundred  shapes.     May   the   day  speedily   come 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND    MARRIAGE.  217 

when  of  such  philosophers  it  may  be  said  and  sung,  and  chorus 
It  again :  — 

"  Their  bones  are  dust,  their  pens  are  rust, 
Their  ethics  gone  to  pot  —  we  trust." 

When  a  wise  man  plays  the  fool,  a  woman  is  generally  at  the 
bottom  of  it. 

The  greatest  mistake  ever  made  by  any  human  being,  man 
or  woman,  is  the  one  of  supposing  that  any  amount  of  mere 
passional  luxury,  any  amount  of  revelry  in  lust,  can  ever,  ever 
satisfy  the  heart  and  make  a  person  content.  All  the  wealth, 
luxury,  trappings,  fame — revelry  in  lust,  with  millions  to 
back,  and  thousands  to  assist  therein  —  will  prove  a  mock-feast, 
and  never  be  satisfactory.  One  love,  one  mate,  one  grand 
safety  only  can  do  this,  and  fill  the  true  cup  of  human  joy  to 
its  full. 

"  I  have  loved  —  not  wisely — but  too  muchly ! "  is  what  many 
a  man,  and  not  a  few  women,  silently  say  to  themselves.  The 
author  hereof  can  feel  with  and  for  them,  for  he  Tcnoivs  how  it  is 
himself! 

There  is  an  awful  deal  of  hypocrisy  afloat  in  the  world,  in 
heart  matters,  as  well  as  in  politics  and  religion.  Yet  we 
blindly,  stupidly,  wilfully,  perpetuate  the  evil.  While  the 
writer  was  in  Jerusalem,  Syria,  in  1862,  the  various  consuls 
there  caused  the  stones  to  be  cleared  from  the  road  ending  at 
the  Damascus  gate.  Useless  task  !  for  at  night  the  very  Arabs 
— the  fellaheen  — who  were  employed  to  cast  away  the  stones  by 
day,  took  pains  to  cast  them  back  by  night.  "  The  roads  were 
good  enough  for  our  fathers.  They  are  good  enough  for  us, 
and  therefore  are  too  good  for  these  Christian  dogs  !  "  was  the 
logic  —  and  back  went  the  stones.  Of  a  piece  with  that  is  the 
miserable  policy  of  the  Won't-do-betters  in  the  house  of  Mar- 
riage. If  forsooth  they  have  lived  a  helter-skelter,  home  nor 
shelter,  storm  and  pelter  sort  of  life  up  till  to-day,  why  they 
must  keep  it  up,  because — they  are  fools  !  We  want  no  more 
stony  roads  to  Damascus  ;  but  we  do  want  a  thorough  revolu- 


218  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

tionizing  of  connubial  habitudes,  a  greater  amount  of  open 
honesty  in  all  our  dealings  with  the  species,  whereupon  the 
loves  current  in  the  world  will  bear  our  life-barks  on  to  the 
shining  city  of  Felicity,  now  beheld  so  very  far  off,  yet  glitter- 
ing so  brightly  in  the  sunshine  of  Hope. 

The  age  of  manhood  is  not  yet,  but  is  nestling  somewhere  in 
the  fruitful  womb  of  coming  time  ! 

How  very  often  we  reach  erroneous  conclusions  concerning 
the  skeletons  in  every  body's  closet,  —  our  own  included,  —  and 
how  we  rack  our  brains,  wondering  who's  to  blame.  We  de- 
cide one  way  or  another,  against  him  or  her,  and,  ten  to  one, 
decide  wrongly.  We  affirm  that  he  or  she  placed  the  skeleton 
there,  but  how  do  we  know  which  did,  if  either?  May  it  not*be 
that  that  identical  death's  head  and  cross  bones  is  an  heir-loom, 
handed  down,  regularly,  having  been  securely  packed  away 
somewhere  in  his  or  her  bones,  brains,  soul,  —  no  —  not  soul, — 
for  soul  is  ahvays  good  and  pure  !  —  but  in  nerves  and  general 
make-up?  How  do  we  know,  but  that  the  unpacking  of  said 
skeleton  may  be  the  result  of  other's  influence,  —  seeming 
accident  ?  Anyhow  there  it  is !  and  there  it  ghastly  grins  des- 
olation to  you  or  me,  him  or  her.  How,  in  God's  name,  shall 
either  of  us  get  rid  of  the  accursed  presence  ?  is  the  question. 
Neither  of  us  all  seem  to  have  courage  enough  to  take  the 
accursed  thing  by  neck  and  heels,  and  tumble  it  headlong  out 
upon  the  waste,  and  know  it  no  more  forever !  "We  won't  do 
it,  more's  the  pity  ! 

Some  children  rather  like  to  have  splinters  in  their  flesh,  for 
the  "fun"  of  picking  them  out:  and  so,  too,  some  married 
people  appear  to  take  delight  in  cultivating  some  dear,  deli- 
cious grievance,  just  for  the  sake  of  having  a  delightsome  agony 
to  suffer  from  and  growl  over.  But  in  the  end  Wolf,  wolf! 
turns  out  not  to  be  a  false  alarm  ! 

Examples  !  Bah  !  their  odor  is  —  pestiferous !  How  very 
often  we  are  stunned  with  an  overplus  of  eulogistic  flummery, 
anent  some  great  public  functionary ;  a  bedizened  count  this, 
lord  that,  Baron  Kacky-Acky,  popular  preacher,  author,  or 
6ome  flnnkyistic  jigadier  brindle,  home  from  the  wars,  whose 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  219 

every  act  is  clamorously  cited  as  just  the  thing  for  every  one 
else  to  copy  after  and  follow  ;  just  as  if  any  one  but  a  natural-born 
fool  would,  or  ought  to,  be  content  with  the  sort  of  respect  re- 
sultant from  successful  copyism.  No  fame,  esteem,  or  anything 
else  is  worth  having,  unless  struck  out  with  original  fire,  from 
the  flint  and  steel  within  us,  tapped  right  straight  from  the 
wells  of  power,  deep  down  below  the  hard-pan  of  our  own 
souls ! 

These  public  people  whose  examples  we  are  taught  to  cher- 
ish, who  and  what  are  they,  behind  the  scenes,  half  the 
time  ?  What  do  we  know  of  their  hidden  life  —  even  of  a  man 
like  Washington  ?  or  anybody  else,  for  that  matter  ?  —  for  it  is 
quite  as  likely  that  these  men  whom  circumstances  bring  to  the 
surface  have  quite  as  many  dark  spots  hidden,  as  have  any  of 
the  less  fortunate  small  potatoes  at  the  bottom  of  the  social 
basket.  One,  ay,  all,  of  these  so-called  exemplars,  —  for  there 
are  but  few  real  ones,  at  the  head  of  whom  stands  Him  of 
Nazareth,  flanked  on  either  side  by  the  Man  of  the  Bo-tkee, 
and  Him  who  sleeps  in  Philae ;  these  aside,  and  what  do  most 
of  the  rest  amount  to  ?  Take  one  as  a  sample :  to  those  he 
meets  in  the  great  busy  world,  he  is  all  smiles,  urbanity,  good 
feeling,  and  the  world  rates  him  as  a  man  of  the  "  A  number 
one "  class,  and  heralds  his  name  as  being  great,  both  far  and 
wide ;  and  yet,  nine  times  in  ten,  the  real  and  true  story  of  that 
man's  actual  worth  is  not  told ;  because  generally  it  is  not 
known  ;  for,  say  what  you  will,  the  true  sphere  of  the  man,  and 
the  sphere  of  the  true  man,  lies  not  only  as  much  within  doors 
as  without,  but  a  great  deal  more ;  because  all  disguises  are 
dropped  at  the  threshold  of  his  home  as  he  enters,  and  the 
cloak  of  policy  is  put  on  the  instant  he  recrosses  it  again. 
Hence  it  happens  that  many  a  popular  idol  is  an  infernal 
scoundrel  and  tyrant  at  his  own  fireside ;  and  that  his  great- 
ness dare  not  be  spoken  toby  wife,  child,  or  dependent,  save  with 
bated  breath,  and  hearts  trembling  all  the  while.  He  is  all 
honey  to  outsiders,  and  gall  and  wormwood  in  his  own  house. 
He  may  be  a  splendid  Democrat  or  Republican  out  in  the 
street ;  and  overbearing,  autocratic  littleness  in  his  own  domi- 


220  WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

cile !  In  society  his  lips  may  drop  nothing  but  sugared  phrase 
and  honeyed  words,  and  he  be  the  pet  of  the  ladies  ;  while  in  his 
own  private  dwelling,  guilty  of  prolonged  and  attenuated  murder, 
his  weak,  sickly,  exhausted  wife  the  victim,  lingering,  broken 
hearted,  long-dying  victim  to  his  greatness'  unholy  passions. 
Not  even  ministers  of  Christ's  blessed  Gospel  are  free  from 
either  the  crime  against  wifehood,  or  the  double-faced,  hypo- 
critical meanness  following  it.  He  lacks,  but  apes  the  essen- 
tials of  true  manhood,  to  others ;  laws  take  no  heed  of  certain 
sorts  of  murder,  of  which  wives  are  the  victims,  and  a  man  may 
kill  half-a-dozen  of  them  in  succession,  and  still  be  counted 
respectable. 

While  such  a  man  has  a  calm  and  serene  smile  for  all  other 
people,  to  her  who  is  his  legal  prey  he  wears  brute  armor, 
though  never  a  loud  word  be  spoken,  and  never  a  blow  be 
struck,  and  yet  he  wears  it,  to  her  untold,  inexpressible  cost. 
In  nothing  but  shape  does  such  a  one  resemble  the  true  man — 
he  who  in  the  private  domains  of  life  exercises  those  spontane- 
ous courtesies  and  kindnesses  and  self-restraints  and  tender- 
nesses, so  befitting  the  real  gentleman, — for  money  and  place 
do  not  make  the  gentleman ;  but  manhood  does,  even  without 
a  dollar  to  back  it,  —  courtesies  so  highly  appreciated,  but  so 
very  seldom  enjoyed  by  —  modern  wives.  Look  at  the  sons  of 
preachers  !  Do  they  appear  to  be  the  refined  resultant  of  heavenly 
marriage  and  mutual  love  ?  or  of  something  quite  opposite  in 
character  thereto?  Watch  the  careers  of  preachers'  sons,  and 
it  will  be  found  that  they  far  oftener  sink  below  mediocrity  than 
rise  above  it  —  except  in  social  vice.  Faugh  !  such  ministerial- 
ness  stinks  in  the  nostrils  of  every  honest  man  —  or  woman 
either ! 

Among  all  the  really  great  men  who  have  flourished  in  our 
day,  —  and  by  great  is  meant,  not  merely  famous,  but  who  had 
character  and  man-ness  back  of  it,  —  there  are  a  few  marked 
ones,  whose  careers  seemed  round  and  full.  First  of  these  was 
Lincoln,  who  merited  eternal  salvation  and  beatitude  —  from  the 
fact  of  his  —  marriage  I 

Says  the  legend :  Rap,  rap,  went  a  pair  of  knuckles  at  the 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRj.AGB.  221 

gate  of  Heaven.  Who's  there  ?  asked  St.  Peter  of  the  keys. 
It's  meself,  plaze  yer  riverance  —  one  Paudeen  O'Raflerty,  from 
the  village  of  Clogher  in  the  county  Tyrone.  What  have  yez 
done  that  }-e  should  entlier  into  gloory?  says  St.  Pether.  Divil 
a  wan  o'  me  knows  —  widout  it's  I've  been  married?  Oh, 
beggorra,  says  St.  Pether,  yez  have  said  enough !  barrin  did 
yez  have  a  mother-in-law  ?  Faith,  an'  I  did  have  that  same,  bad 
luck  to  her  sowl !  d'ye  mind  that?  Be  the  hill  o'  Howth,  but  she 
icas  a  tarer !  Howly  mother  o'  Moses,  d'yez  twig  the  back  o' 
me  head?  Sure  divil  a  bit  o'  hair's  been  on  it  these  twinty 
years,  by  raizin  o'  the  throuble  !  I  say,  says  St.  Pether,  sthrike 
up  the  music  there,  here's  a  new  marthyr  come  to  gloory  !  And 
Paudeen  passed  through  in  a  blaze  of  triumph.  Seeing  which, 
a  long-haired,  long-eared  "Reformer"  went  up  and  rapped. 
What  do  you  want?  To  come  in.  Can't  see  it !  said  St.  Peter. 
Why,  I've  been  married  too  !  Indeed  !  Yes  ;  you  bet  I  have  — 
muchly  I  How's  that  ?  Wh}*,  you  see  I  got  a  divorce,  because 
I  found  what  I  thought  was  nry  eternal  affinity  —  another  man's 
wife — as  the  first  one  was!  and —  You're  twitting  on  facts! 
said  St.  Peter,  rather  angrily ;  and  that  aint  fair,  you  know. 
Well,  go  on.  So  when  I  got  number  two,  O  Lordy  !  It  was  out 
of  the  frying-pan  into  the  hottest  fire  you  ever  saw !  My 
second  was  a  strong-minded  woman ;  and  one  clay  she  went 
into  a  trance,  —  over  the  left,  —  and  lectured  the  top  of  her 
head  clean  off;  and  I  suppose  she's  somewhere  hereabouts,  you 
know ;  but  you  needn't  trouble  yourself  looking  her  up,  you 
know ;  for  I  don't  want  to  find  her  —  or  either  of  my  mothers- 
in-law —  }'ou  bet!  All  I  want  is  to  get  in  and  kinder  mix  in  pro- 
miscuously among  the  Reformers,  you  know.  The  which?  said 
St.  Peter.  Why,  bless  your  slab-sided  Yankee  soul,  my  dear 
greeney,  there  isn't  a  single  one  here !  None  ?  Why,  you 
astonish  me  !  There's  no  hell,  you  know,  and  millions  of  them 
are  dead,  so  they  must  be  here  !  You're  mistaken.  There  was 
a  lot  a  long  time  ago,  but  they  slandered  each  other  so  that  the 
rest  of  the  saints  got  tired  of  it,  and  then  they  placarded  the 
walls  of  heaven,  announcing  a  series  of  reform  and  woman's 
rights  conventions  to  be  held  outside,  admission  free,  and  no 


222  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND  MARRIAGE. 

collection  taken.  And  they  all  went  except  four  thousand 
affinity-hunters,  and  next  clay  they,  too,  went  outside,  and  you 
know  it  is  a  law  that  whoever  goes  out,  stays  out ;  and  so  the  four 
thousand  and  the  other  host  have  joined  your  last  wife  —  which 
you'll  have  to  do  also,  and  go  —    Where  ?    Why  — 

"  Up  in  a  bal-\oon,  sir,  up  in  a  bal-loon  ! 
All  among  the  '  ists  '  and  '  ites  '  on  the  dark  side  of  the  moon." 

Lincoln,  the  martyr,  in  the  sense  alluded  to,  being  in  that 
view  the  first  great  man  of  the  age,  because  he  stood  it  without 
wincing,  stands  alone.  Next  to  him,  in  spite  of  his  fall,  stands 
Napoleon  III.,  a  man  who  lost  a  throne  and  empire  by  reason 
of  a  woman's  whim  ;  for  if  Eugenie  had  let  the  priests  go  to  — - 
Jerusalem,  instead  of  bowing  clown  to  them,  and  driving  the 
poor  sick  emperor  half-crazy,  he  never  would  have  accepted  the 
Prussian  slate,  and  been  wiped  out  with  a  German  sponge.  It 
has  already  been  said  herein  that  never  yet  was  there  a  really 
great  man  but  he  was  soft  on  the  female  world  ;  nor  a  genius 
so  grand  but  that  a  woman  could  wind  him  round  her  little 
finger  without  half-trying ;  hence  we  need  not  wonder  that  the 
American  Hercules — a  man  embodying  more  solid  energy, 
enterprise,  and  daring  push  than  either  of  those  mentioned,  or 
both  combined,  —  a  man,  who  in  spite  of  his  detractors,  is  really 
greater  than  them  all,  even  with  his  acknowledged  weak  points, 
—  a  man  who  shines  by  his  own  light  like  a  sun  amid  the  minor 
planets  ;  the  personified,  individualized  United  States  of  America, 
consolidated  and  crystallized  into  something  over  two  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds  avoirdupois  of  solid  flesh,  bone,  muscle,  nerve 
and  brain ;  yet  even  he  —  this  giant,  this  man  of  vast  abilities, 
and  all  his  strength  —  has  fallen  before  the  power  of,  and  been 
made  to  bite  the  dust  as  it  were,  by  the  enemy  —  woman  !  — 
but  in  all  cases  he  has  been  beaten  with  his  own  weapons,  for 
of  all  men  living,  during  the  last  third  of  this  century,  the  one 
who  had  most  love,  hence  most  of  womanly  intuition  and 
financial  prescience,  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  had  the  greatest  share. 

It  has  been  customary  with  a  great  many  people,  editors  in- 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  223 

eluded,  to  affect  contempt  for,  and  to  strenuously  under-rate 
the  celebrated  subject  of  this  sketch,  just  as  if  he  could  have 
filled  the  large  frame  in  the  world,  which  he  unquestionably 
does,  had  he  not  possessed  absolute  genius  of  a  very  remarkable 
order.  It  is  said  he  is  vain.  "Well,  what  of  it?  And  well  he 
might  be  when  contrasting  himself  with  the  fractional  men 
around  him.  James  Fisk  never  yet  abused  a  woman  ;  and  the 
writer  of  this  personally  knows  at  least  twelve  very  prominent 
public  men,  arfd  editors  too,  all  of  whom  denounce  the  Erie 
King  in  unmeasured  terms,  who  amuse  their  leisure  by  direct 
wife  abuse,  and,  what  is  worse,  wife  imprisonment  and  wife 
starvation.  Let  the  galled  jades  wince,  Fisk's  withers  are  un 
wrung ! 

This  book  will  be  read  by  many  in  distant  lands  who  are  not 
familiar  with  current  history  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard  ;  for  such 
the  following  statement  is  made  by  way  of  explanation  :  — 

This  work  is  written  in  1871,  at  which  time  flourished  in  our 
land  a  man  of  most  wonderful  magnetic  presence  and  power, 
combined  with  social  and  business  qualities  of  a  very  high  order, 
—  James  Fisk,  Jr. ;  but  what  made  him  the  undisputed  king  in 
a  very  broad  realm  was  the  immense  amount  of  stamina  be- 
queathed him  by  his  parents,  who  must  have  loved  each  other 
dearly,  else  such  a  being  as  the  son  alluded  to  never  could  have 
been  born ;  nor  could  he  have  been  endowed  with  the  enor- 
mous measures  of  love,  both  physically  and  otherwise,  which 
enabled  him,  in  the  time  of  the  author  hereof,  to  rise  from  semi- 
menialism,  a  mere  clerkship,  and  comparative  obscurity,  to  the 
front  rank  of  financiers  of  the  nation,  and  that,  too,  without  the 
slightest  niggardliness,  or  mean  littleism  of  any  sort ;  for  during 
his  entire  career,  so  far  as  it  had  been  run  when  this  was  written, 
many  a  one  could  have  pointed  to  frequent  love-adventures  of 
his,  but  never  to  a  case  of  seduction  of  any  pure,  innocent  girl 
or  woman,  tyranny,  or  anything  of  the  sort ;  for  the  man's  life 
was  constantly  adorned  with  acts  of  princely  generosity  and 
open-handed  benevolence,  neither  of  which  were  ever  measured 
by  policy  to  the  slightest  extent ;  all  of  which  was  owing  to  the 


224  WOMAN,   LOVE*   AND   MARRIAUE. 

magnificent  fact  above   referred  to,   and  one  worthy  of  being 
copied  by  every  parent  on  the  footstool. 

During  the  last  third  of  this  century  he  filled  a  larger  sphere 
in  America,  outside  of  mere  spasmodic  politics,  than  any  other 
person,  for  he  had  more  practical  matter-of-factness,  direct 
energy,  nerve,  boldness,  courage,  bravery,  skill,  daring,  self- 
reliance,  and  executive  ability,  than  any  half-dozen  of  his  con- 
temporaries and  detractors  put  together, —  not  literary  skill, 
albeit  no  mean  poet,  but  a  skilful  one,  and  an  excellent  amateur 
of  music,  besides  full  to  the  lips  of  straightforward,  practical, 
useful  brain-power  and  individualism, —  far-reaching  mental 
ability,  the  sort  which  makes  its  mark,  and  never  knows  defeat 
—  the  kind  of  native  force  which  never  either  ebbs  or  whines  — 
[for  it  was  said  of  him,  that  nothing  but  love  and  music  could 
even  for  an  instant  throw  him  off  his  balance,  —  which  when  it 
happened  made  fools  laugh,  because  of  their  own  non-heartness, 
which  rendered  them  incapable  of  appreciating  a  soul  of  the 
undoubted  calibre  of  Fisk's]  —  a  native  force  of  character 
which  was  the  touchstone  of  success ;  an  exhaustless  fund  of 
resources,  a  fulness  of  that  species  of  personalism  which  indel- 
ibly stamps  with  its  royal  signature  everything  it  touches,  and 
never  fails  to  make  its  own  clear  mark,  and  which  tells  every 
time.  It  may  be  said  that  other  men  have  been  even  more 
successful  than  Fisk,  and  amassed  far  greater  sums  of  money. 
Admitted ;  but  his  value  to  the  world  did  not  spring  from  his 
ability  merely  to  pile  up  dollars ;  for  he  has  proved  himself  to 
be,  in  some  respects,  the  greatest  civilizer  that  ever  drew 
breath  on  this  soil.  He  made  himself  the  benefactor  of  the  mass- 
es,—  the  steady  and  unchanging  friend  of  labor  and  genius  alike, 
and  the  encourager  of  talent !  He  was  the  munificent  patron 
of  the  drama,  the  opera,  the  ballet,  of  art,  of  letters,  of  practical 
reform  where  reform  was  most  needed.  The  whole  life  of  the 
man  has,  to  this  writing,  been  one  single  devotion  to  civili- 
zation. 

Who  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard  has  not  gained  immensely 
from  the  grand  upward  flight  which  Music  took,  consequent 
upon  his  splendid  and  successful  efforts  to  popularize  the  divine 


woman;  love,  and  marriage.  225 

art  through  its  most  gifted  interpreters, —  Irma,  Persini,  Au- 
jac,  Lea  Silly,  Montaland,  and  hosts  of  others,  who  at  the 
waving  of  Fisk's  omnipotent  hand  filled  the  land  with  melody, 
and,  by  popularizing  Offenbach,  made  millions  whistle  and  sing 
their  cares  away !  Who  shall  tell  us  what  crime  Fisk's  play 
called  the  Twelve  Temptations,  did  not  prevent  ?  Who  shall 
reveal  the  thousands  of  hearts  he  has  made  glad  by  his  bounty, 
his  employment,  his  counsel  and  example?  As  for  the  writer 
hereof,  the  happiest  hours  he  ever  knew  were  those  he  spent  in 
unalloyed  enjoyment  while  listening  to  the  divinely  exhilarating 
strains  of  Fisk's  artists  as  they  warbled  Barbe  Bleu;  Le  Pe- 
tite  Faust,  Orphee  auxEnfer,  La  Grande  Duchess ;  Perichole  !  Ah, 
Perichole!  and,  by  the  way,  the  writer  of  this  knew  of  one  man 
wholly  diverted  from  intended  suicide,  by  the  ridiculous  fiasco 
in  the  same  line  made  by  Pequillo  in  the  Opera  Bouffe  just 
named  ;  so  there's  one  life  to  Fisk's  credit,  about  which  he  never 
knew  a  syllable. 

Another  friend  of  the  author's, —  a  lady, —  whom  he  took  for 
seven  successive  nights  to  listen  to  the  same  troupe  in  Boston, 
subsequently  told  him  that  for  three  weeks  she  had  carried  a 
vial  of  deadly  poison  with  her,  intending  it  for  a  bridge  to  the 
"  Summer  land  "  as  soon  as  her  bottom  dollar  was  gone  :  but 
from  which  the  music  of  Offenbach  had  saved  her,  thanks  to  the 
Admiral  of  the  Sound  Fleet  —  in  a  double  sense  —  ay,  triple  ! 

While  discussing  this  man,  the  author  takes  the  liberty  of 
quoting  from  another  work  of  his  —  in  manuscript  —  called 
"  La  Feronee  ,  or,  the  Light  behind  the  Night,"  a  brief 
section  relating  to  this  very  man.  The  reader  will  understand 
that  his  characters  in  the  work,  not  himself,  are  talking. 
Says  one  of  these  characters :  — 

"  One  day  there  was  present  in  the  societj^-rooms,  or  sanctum, 
several  literary  people,  and  among  them  the  rather  extraordi- 
nary young  lady  seeress  or  clairvoyant,  known  in  this  city  as 
La  Feronee,  whom  the  coterie  had  induced  to  give  us  a  seance, 
for  the  gratification  of  the  curiosity  of  such  of  us  who  had 
chronic  doubts  and  scepticism  concerning  the  alleged  possibil- 
ity of  seeing  without  eyes,  and  reasoning  with  preternatural 


226  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE. 

acuteness  while  in  the  so-called  mesmeric  state.  At  first  the 
general  conversation  turned  upon  Love,  and  '  Casca  Llanna ' 
(the  author  of  this  work)  had  expressed  his  belief  that  there 
could  be  no  great  love  without  a  corresponding  great  passion  ; 
and  fortified  it  with  numerous  examples  taken  at  random  from 
ancient  mediaeval  and  current  history ;  when  a  learned  pundit 
declared  that  James  Fisk  was  a  great  passionist  and  in  some 
sense  a  great  man,  too ;  but  by  no  means  great  in  either  the 
amount,  quality,  or  texture  of  his  love,  which,  he  affirmed,  was 
of  a  coarse  grade ;  to  which  opinion  the  '  Casca '  dissented, 
and  maintained  that  the  man  was  not  only  full  of  love,  but  that 
he  had  far  more  love  than  passion ;  and  was  capable  of  grander 
and  finer  expressions  of  it  than  nine  men  in  ten  on  a  general 
average ;  and  that  to  the  vast  love  in  him  was  the  world 
indebted  for  oceans  of  music,  pageants  of  operatic  and  dramatic 
display,  and  refined  methods  of  public  travel,  never  equalled 
since  the  world  began !  —  an  argument  of  a  very  silencing 
power  in  itself  against  the  adverse,  view.  The  conversation 
waxed  warm,  until  La  Feronee  became  so  deeply  interested  and 
absorbed  in  it,  that  she  very  quietly  dropped  off  into  a  perfectly 
independent  mesmeric  sleep  ;  seeing  which,  the  learned  pundit 
rubbed  his  hands  with  glee,  and  proposed  to  settle  the  question 
—  in  his  own  favor,  and  against  Fisk  of  course  —  by  referring 
the  whole  matter  to  the  fair  seeress  while  in  her  unearthly  state  of 
mental  exaltation  ;  to  which  some  of  us  readily  agreed  ;  albeit 
others  of  the  party  complained ;  for  we  had  met  to  try  a  few 
experiments  of  an  entirely  different  character,  but  nevertheless 
we  all  finally  agreed  to  allow  Fisk  to  be  analyzed,  en  passant  — 
as  it  were." 

Soon  the  slumbering  lady  opened  her  peerless  lips,  and 
resumed  her  talk  where  she  had  left  off  at  a  prior  seance.  In 
order  to  give  the  reader  a  clear  preface  to  what  followed,  it  is 
necessary  here  to  quote  a  portion  of  what  she  said  ;  and  these 
were  her  exact  words  —  the  general  subject  being  the  incarna- 
tions and  re-incarnations  of  the  human  soul,  and  the  general 
nature  of  the  affections  :  — 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  227 

"  By  repeated  incarnations  —  for  I  have  already  proved  that 
the  soul  does  not  originate  on  earth,  but  pre-existed  myriads  of 
ages  before  the  worlds  were  made,  and  that  it  will  exist  myriads 
of  ages  after  the  last  material  globe  shall  have  ceased  to  be  !  — 
I  repeat,  after  repeated  incarnations,  has  the  final  life-point, 
the  primal  intelligentia,  the  crystalline  mystery,  called  Soul, 
gone  on  and  upward  from  the  informing  spark  of  a  jelly-speck 
in  the  mud  of  rivers,  to  the  analid  or  worm,  tadpole,  fish-frog, 
frog-fish,  bird,  quadruped,  to  the  bimana  in  varied  form  and 
phase,  simia,  cynocephalus,  monkey,  baboon,  gibbon,  ape,  trog- 
hxtyte,  gorilla,  nschiego,  bushman,  Hottentot,  and  so  on,  up 
to,  and  through,  the  fifteenth  amendment,  and  away  beyond  to 
the  highest,  loftiest,  noblest  specimen  of  the  creature  called 
Man  !  —  most  of  whom,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  are  in  only  a  half- 
finished  state  yet,  —  rather  underdone  !  —  and  will  be  for  a  long 
time  to  come,  as  a  general  thing ;  for  the  ideal  Manhood  and 
genuine  civilization  will  be  au  fait  accompli — together,  but 
both  are  an  exceedingly  long  way  off.  In  that  day,  —  when 
it  arrives  !  —  justice  —  all  that  is  required  to  inaugurate  the 
good  time  longed  for  —  will  have  a  meaning  among  men  con- 
sonant to  and  with  its  derivation,  and  will  be  the  rule,  instead 
of  the  exception,  as  now ! "  "  What,"  asked  the  learned 
pundit,  "will  be  the  state  of  things  then,  as  you  view  the 
future  from  your  mesmeric  stand-point?"  She  smiled,  and  re- 
plied, "  Marriage  will  be  quite  a  different  affair  from  what  it  is 
at  present.  The  true,  and  not  the  ordinary  false  and  sham 
sort  will  obtain  ;  and  sensual  bondage  being  unknown,  unexpe- 
rienced, plenty  of  the  right  sort  of  children  will  be  born  !  "  "  Not 
of  the  James  Fisk  sort ! "  exclaimed  the  pundit.  She  smiled 
again,  and  said  :  "  If  this  globe  were  peopled  with  a  race  of 
humans,  the  worst  of  whom  took  rank  beside  the  Erie  King,  this 
would  be  —  excuse  me  !  —  a  bully  world  to  live  in,  and  there 
would  be  but  little  occasion  for  repressive  laws,  and  small  space 
for  human  wrong ! 

"  In  such  a  state  of  human  affairs,  as  a  natural  consequence, 
adulteries  —  the  myriad  legal,  as  well  as  the  thousands  of  ille- 
gal ones  —  shall  have  come  to  a  sudden  and  eternal  stop  ;  and 


228  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE. 

as  smart  children  be  born  within  the  pale  of  wedlock  as  most 
notoriously  come  into  the  world  outside  thereof,  in  these  mal- 
generate  daj's,  because  love  will  be  real  and  not  a  sham.  At 
present  the  seventh  capital  sin,  like  most  all  others,  is  known 
by  its  fruit ;  as  times  go,  generally  quite  the  ablest-minded 
and  finest  physical  stamina  in  the  world,  —  by  reason  of  the 
love  and  fire  preceding  the  illegitimate's  entree  upon  the 
world's  great  stage ;  and  the  sin  itself  is  much  more  decried 
than  disused !  Is  it  not  a  little  singular  that  talent,  rare  and 
valuable,  and  genius,  instant,  bold  and  fiery,  —  angular  cer- 
tainly, yet  talent  and  genius  after  all,  —  should  spring  so  often 
from  disobedience  of  a  social  law,  and  such  a  vast  amount  of 
mediocrity,  not  to  say  stupidity,  should  issue  from  within  the 
lines  of  marriage  ? 

"  When  millions  of  married  couples  shall  produce  and  rear 
such  offspring  as  Mr.  Fisk,  take  the  word  of  La  Feronee  for  it, 
that  our  world  will  be  the  better  for  it !  Everything  a  man  is,  is 
born  in  and  with  him  ;  springs  from,  and  grows  out  of,  the  love 
bequeathed  him  by  regal  father  and  queenly  mother,  which 
love,  in  Fisk's  case,  teemed  with  beauty,  united  with  brains, 
vigor,  health  and  utility,  which  in  subsequent  3'ears  took  out- 
ward form  in  gorgeous  steam  palaces,  imperial  opera  houses, 
and  Divine  Music  inside  of  them,  and  in  a  thousand  other 
glories  for  mankind  at  large,  proving  him  one  of  the  most 
effective  preachers  of  good,  truth,  beauty,  the  world  has  ever 
seen,  or  will  see  for  many  a  long  j^ear  to  come ! "  "  But," 
said  the  pundit,  "  Fisk  is  an  egotist !  "  Said  she,  "  "Was  there  ever 
either  a  great  or  good  man,  or  an  effective  one,  who  was  not?" 
Doubtful !  But  when  that  egotism  constantly  displays  itself  in 
efforts  to  gladden  the  world,  as  in  his  case,  it  is  a  virtue 
second  to  none  pertaining  to  intelligent  beings !  Truth  is 
essentially  dogmatic  ;  and  individuality  to  be  anything  must  be 
prononce ;  and  the  more  pronounced  it  is,  the  greater  the  man, 
hence,  judged  by  that  standard,  the  railway  monarch  ranks  also 
as  king  among  men,  and  one,  too,  whose  greatest  happiness 
consists  in  making  others  happy,  directly  and  indirectly.  For 
instance,  Fisk  often  gives  pelites  soupers  to  his    singers   and 


WOMAX,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  229 

artistes,  who  are  rendered  so  happy  thereby,  that  at  their  next 
performance  they  play  their  roles  with  such  spirit,  verve  and 
elan,  that  the  audiences  are  thrilled,  and  three  thousand  people 
enjoy  new  and  exquisite  sensations,  obliquely  from  the  suppers, 
but  no  less  positively,  all  of  which  spring  from  the  brain  and 
heart  of  this  wonderful  man. 

"  In  the  days  wherein  the  worst  man  shall  be  as  good  as  the 
grand  Speculator-general  is  now,  husbands  will  have  learned 
that :  If  her  life  is  not  his  life,  she  is  not  yet  his  wife  ;  and  that 
it  is  his  immediate  task  to,  in  every  way,  make  her  so,  even 
though  the  verbal  and  ritual  contract  may  have  been  made 
twenty  years  before  !  In  that  coming  time,  if  a  woman  thinks 
she  marries  a  man,  and  finds  herself  tied  to  a  beast  instead,  she 
will  find  protection  without  being  forced  to  run  off,  or  disgrace 
herself  for  purposes  of  escape  from  the  thrall !  If  she  thinks 
she  marries  mind,  and  finds  it  all  matter,  and  coarse  at  that ! — 
soul,  and  it  turns  out  to  be  all  muscle,  and  bone,  and  piggitudity, 
—  there  will,  in  that  civilized  epoch,  be  means  provided  for  her 
speedy  deliverance,  not  only  b}T  statute  law,  but  by  the  univer- 
sal recognition  b}'  society  of  the  eternal  laws  of  natural  adapta- 
bility, compatibility  and  civilized  fitness,  to  be  decided  and 
adjudged  by  persons  of  clear  brain,  and  honest  hearts  adapted 
to  the  regenerative  work,  before  which  final  tribunal  both 
parties  shall  be  patiently  and  fairly  heard  ;  consequently  the 
necessity  of  bogus  divorce  concerns  will  cease  to  be,  and  the 
premium  on  perjury  forever  fall !  And  then,  good-by,  domestic 
hells,  and  thrice  welcome,  new-made  heavens  !  " 

Thus  spake  the  charming  slumberer,  who  then  continued  her 
remarks,  saj'ing  :  "  By  and  by,  people  will  distinguish  between 
force  and  power,  and  realize,  as  I  do,  in  this  sleep  of  Feronee, 
that  the  former  demonstrates,  therefore  wastes  always ;  while 
the  latter  restrains  and  conserves,  therefore  preserves,  the  indi- 
vidual and  the  qualities  pertaining  thereunto.  In  another 
sense,  men  already  know  this,  and  are  aware  that  there  is  more 
real  energy  and  genuine  power  in  the  single  brain  of  an  aver- 
age civilizee  than  in  an  hundred  average  savages ;  and  that 
there  is  a  thousand  times  more  power  in  one  of  these  last  than 


230  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

in  fifty  cumbrous  whales,  or  floundering  rhinoceri.  We  all 
know,  without  stopping  to  reason  about  the  matter  at  all,  that 
there  is  more  life,  vif,  dynamic  power  and  chemical  richness  in 
the  broiled  flesh  of  one  fat  ox,  than  in  ten  tons  of  grass  and 
roots,  if  their  relative  fight  and  think-producing  energy  is 
considered  ;  and  just  so  is  there  more  real  and  abiding  power  in 
one  good,  though  slender  man  or  woman,  in  whom  love  has  the 
dominance,  than  in  forty  great  giants,  whose  boast  is  merely 
bullness,  by  which  is  meant  physical  beastitude  only !  " 

Question  :  "  Will  La  Feronee  now  please,  if  it  be  not  asking 
too  much,  tell  us  something  about  real  womanhood,  —  its  con- 
ditions, essentials,  elements,  and  — "  "  Yes,"  said  she,  "  I 
understand  your  question.  Womanhood's  fulness  depends  up- 
on, and  consists  in,  first,  physical  health,  the  total  absence 
of  unhealthy  secretions,  a  perfect  balance  between  brain,  body, 
and  inner  soul,  with  a  fair  degree  of  excitableness,  impression- 
ability and  passional  strength,  emotive  force,  and  self-command, 
with  due  mental  equipoise,  all  dependent  to  a  great  extent  upon 
fresh  air,  the  bath,  exercise  of  mind  and  body,  and  regular 
habits  of  reading,  thinking,  talking,  upon  subjects  aside  from 
the  eternal  humdrum  gossip  and  empty  nothings  which  now 
usually  engage  their  attention  when  awake,  and  of  which  they 
dream  when  asleep.  Not  one  woman  in  a  thousand  realizes 
what  she  has  a  right  to  and  ought  to,  in  order  to  actually  know 
for  what  purpose  different  organizations  were  given  mankind. 
Women  are  unnatural,  and  can  never  be  right  till  they  live 
right," 

At  this  point  the  learned  pundit  became  impatient,  and  was 
about  to  express  himself  to  that  effect  when  the  beauty  there 
sleeping  said,  addressing  that  individual,  "  I  see  that  you  are 
aching  to  know  about  certain  men,  whether  they  are  truly  im- 
mortal or  not,  and  whether  after  death  they  will  ascend  among 
the  solar  gods,  or  entering  lower  realms  gradually  waste  away 
and  finally  become  wholly  extinct,  as  some  do ;  or  whether  they 
go  to  the  middle  spaces,  dwindle  back  to  the  monadal  state, 
and  finally  go  out  upon  the  ether  as  unconscious  points  or  atoms 


WOMAN  ^    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  231 

preparatory  to  being  rebreathed,  replanted,  reincarnated,  and 
finally  reborn  on  this  or  some  other  globe  in  space  ! 

"  I  perceive  that  you  have  in  your  mind  a  desire  that,  leaping 
over  the  arguments  or  referring  to  the  substance  of  what  I  have 
heretofore  said  on  the  subject  in  this  series  of  Feronee  Seances, 
I  shall  come  at  once  to  the  point  and  illustrate  my  truths  with 
selections  from  the  characters  at  this  time  most  prominent  iu 
American  society  or  before  the  great  public.  You  wish  to  know 
of  their  immortality,  their  actual  soul  calibre  and  mental  weight ; 
and  above  all  you  desire  to  know  of  their  love-power,  hence 
their  actual  personal  importance  and  value  in  the  world  —  for 
a  great  many  men  in  this  world  are  altogether  over-rated  and 
overweighed,  and  pass  current  for  a  great  deal  more  than  their 
just  value  ;  while  a  great  many  others  pass  current  for  im- 
measurably less  than  they  are  really  and  truly  worth,  because 
all  these  men  have  the  dominant  of  love  very  strongly,  hence 
are  real,  and  not  sham  powers  in  the  world. 

"  You  silently  ask  me,  "What  is  the  weight  and  value  of  Train, 
Tweed,  Brownlow,  Sumner,  A.  T.  Stewart,  Vanderbilt,  Grant, 
Forney,  Butler,  Fisk  and  others?  With  pleasure  I  reply :  It 
is  always  best  to  begin  at  the  head,  —  with  the  fullest  fnan  of 
all  these  just  mentioned  ;  indeed  there  are  but  two  in  the  list 
who  take  very  high  rank,  and  these  are  the  Lowell  statesman 
and  the  opera  king.  Tweed  is  peculiar,  and  requires  a  special 
analysis,  Brownlow  is  out  of  the  combat,  and  so  are  Stewart, 
Grant,  and  Train,  for  reasons  not  necessary  to  be  now  specified, 
while  as  for  Sumner  he  is,  judging  by  his  bust  —  a  great  senator, 
but  a  very  small  man;  his  egotism  is  so  immense  that  he  has 
no  time  to  think  of  any  one  but  himself,  hence  has  no  love ;  nor 
is  he  capable  of  inspiring  it ;  wherefore  as  a  husband  he  is  a 
dead  failure ;  therefore  also  as  a  man ;  for  although  as  a 
debater  he  has  acquired  some  renown,  and  in  some  respects  has 
won  ephemeral  notice,  yet  his  very  best  attempts  have  proved 
abortive  of  lasting  products,  and  although  no  crying  evils  can 
justly  be  laid  to  his  charge,  yet,  on  the  whole,  great  as  some 
may  deem  him,  and  as  he  undoubtedly  imagines  himself  to  be, 
he  has  proved  very  unsatisfactory ;  and  when  he  dies  and  has 


232  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE. 

a  fine  funeral,  with  a  couple  of  hundred  lamentable  editorials, 
and  a  score  or  two  of  eulogies,  that  will  be  the  last  of  Charles 
Sumner,  and  thus  will  he  pay  the  dreadful  penalty  of  being  a 
non-loving,  non-affectionate,  half-man. 

To  rise  from  the  foot  of  the  subject  to  the  head,  you  need 
not  marvel  when  I  affirm  that  —  religion  aside  —  all  things, 
accident,  destiny,  fate,  nature  and  grace  included,  conspired, 
with  universal  accord,  to  the  great  glorification  of  immoi'tal 
James  Fisk  !  —  the  grandest  epitome  of  universal  Yankeedom 
and  American  institutions  that  ever  yet  drew  the  breath  of 
life,  or  that  now  has  an  existence  upon  the  planet  on  which  we 
live  !  The  reasons  for  that  opinion  have  already  been  outlined, 
if  not  fully  given.  The  man  stands  solitary  and  alone,  unique, 
sui  generis,  and  without  a  rival  on  the  globe  !  " 

At  this  declaration  all  but  the  writer  stared  at  her  in  utter 
astonishment.  He  said,  "  That's  been  my  opinion  a  long  time, 
albeit  I  never  saw  the  man  save  once  in  my  life,  —  when  on  the 
17th  of  June,  1871,  he  rode  at  the  head  of  his  soldiers  past  my 
window,  at  89  Court  St.,  Boston ! "  As  for  the  learned 
pundit,  to  portray  his  varied  emotions  is  an  impossibility.  Said 
he,  "Why  does  Fisk  outrank  Grant?  Does  he  overtop  stu- 
pendous Ben  Butler  in  that  respect?"  She  answered,  "  Most  un- 
questionably ;  for  living  he  has  no  equal,  and  dying  I  can  imagine  " 
—  "  What?" —  "  Why  that  but  very  few  men  will  be  missed  as 
will  he."  More  was  said  in  a  jocular  vein,  in  the  two  first  editions 
of  this  work,  both  of  which  were  issued  between  December  28th, 
1871,  and  January  7th,  1872  —  on  which  day  poor  Fisk  was 
struck  down  in  his  prime  by  the  assassin's  hand.  But  no  sooner 
had  the  great  man  fallen,  than  the  American  people,  and  the 
American  press,  nearly  all  of  whom  had  underrated  the  Brattle- 
boro  giant,  suddenly  changed  their  tune  with  regard  to  him,  and 
to  a  man  accepted  the  just  estimate  of  the  geni  made  in  these 
pages  while  they  were  abusing  him,  and  while  the  joyous  current 
of  royal  life  was  bounding  through  his  veins !  Thank  God, 
Casca  Llanna  found  out  his  calibre,  weight  and  worth  to  the  world 
before  any  human  being  ever  dreamed  that  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  was 
walking  on  the  narrow  bridge  of  death. 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  233 

"  And  thus  the  world  goes  round  and  round. 
And  men  their  courses  run, 
But  ever  the  true  comes  uppermost, 
And  ever  is  justice  done." 

Green  be  the  turf  above  thy  dust,  and  greener  be  thy  memory, 
James  Fisk,  Jr. 

"Would  to  the  great  God  of  Heaven  that  civilized  mankind 
would  heed  the  lessons  laid  down  in  this  book,  and  cultivate 
Love,  —  ever-blessed,  sweet,  ennobling  love,  —  instead  of  giving 
a  loose  rein  to  passion.  Elsewhere  in  this  volume  an  incident 
is  related  concerning  "  A  penny's  worth  of  wit ;  "  and  with  what 
awful  and  amazing  force  does  the  mighty  lesson  come  home  in 
view  of  the  dreadful  tragedy  of  poor  Fisk's  end,  and  the  deep 
damnation  of  his  taking  off !  Here  a  man  of  most  splendid  parts 
is  cut  off  in  the  midst  of  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  extraor- 
dinary careers  ever  run,  not  only  by  any  man  of  our  times  and 
nation,  but  of  all  time,  and  in  the  great  wide  world,  because 
under  the  infernal  spell  of  magnetic  passion,  —  for  the  man 
never  loved  the  siren  who  brought  death  to  him,  nor  did  the 
siren  love  him,  —  she  only  loved  his  money.  But  he  loved 
his  wife  —  and  she  loved  him,  thank  God  again  !  —  and  the  one 
proved  it  in  his  last  earthly  act,  and  the  other  demonstrated  the 
deathlessness  of  true  affection,  when,  at  the  last  dreadful  mo- 
ment, when  all  earthly  hope  had  fled  forever,  she  clasped  his 
neck  in  her  wifely  arms,  and  with  streaming  eyes  and  broken 
voice  asked  the  good  God  to  pardon  his  sins  and  take  his  soul 
unto  Himself.  May  Heaven  forever  bless  thee.,  Lucy  Fisk,  thou 
true  woman  and  noble  wife  !  Bless  thee  and  thine  forever  and 
forevermore,  because  thy  conduct  in  that  sad  hour  demonstrated 
the  everlasting  regality  of  thy  womanhood,  thy  wifehood  and 
thy  loving  trust  and  truth. 

And  the  fawning  cyprian,  —  she  who  wound  herself  about  the 
husband  of  this  regal  wife,  —  what  of  her  ?  Did  she  shed  a  bitter 
tear  when  the  man  fell  who  had  raised  her  from  beggary  to  opu- 
lence? —  fell  by  the  hand  of  the  maniacal  dolt,  whom  in  turn 
she  had  also  lured  from  the  arms  of  a  loving  and  true-hearted 
wife  ?  —  No !  —  Yes  !  No  tear  shed  she  because  foul  murder 
had  been  done,  and  a  great  soul  hurled  from  time  to  eternity  in 


234  WOMAN,   LOVE,  AND  MARRIAGE. 

the  twinkling  of  an  eye !  No  tears  from  her  breast  welled  up  in 
Borrow  and  bitter  agony,  like  those  tapped  from  out  the  heart  of 
her  whom  the  siren's  wiles  had  widowed  !  —  but  plenty  of  tears 
that  the  murdered  victim  could  no  longer  be  leeched  ;  and  more 
tears  that  his  slayer  could  no  longer  assist  her  in  her  dreadful 
war  against  two  honest  wives.  Would  that  the  eyes  of  men 
were  opened,  that  they  might  see,  and,  seeing,  realize,  that  one 
ounce  of  a  true  and  honest  love  is  worth  more  to  a  man  than  the 
wreathed  smiles  of  all  the  harlots  who  have  trod  the  earth,  down 
the  ages,  from  Aspasia  and  before  her,  to  the  last  brazen-toned 
advocate  of  free  love,  now  ranting  from  the  rostra  of  the  land. 
True  these  last  say  they  mean  free  love,  not  free  lust,  —  totally 
forgetful  that  love  carries  sex  along  with  it,  and  between  man 
and  woman,  outside  of  kinship,  ever,  always,  means  Possession  ! 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

The  woman  who  complained  that  the  working  between  meals 
would  be  the  death  of  her,  in  spite  of  the  known  strength  of  her 
constitution,  which  could  stand  any  amount  of — rest,  must 
have  had  a  very  curious  eye,  and  one  well  worth  studying.  In 
common  with  everybody  else,  the  author  once  thought  that  he 
perfectly  understood  a  woman  by  a  single  glance  of  her  eye,  but 
the  very  one  whom  he  thought  he  knew  best,  proved  to  him  that  he 
really  knew  very  little  ;  paralleling  the  experience  of  the  "  Hard 
Shell"  Baptist  itinerant,  who  relates  his  adventures,  saying 
among  other  things  that  during  a  visit  to  New  Orleans, 
"  Whar  the}7  have  cream-colored  horses,  gilded  carriages  and 
marble  saloons,  with  brandy,  and  sugar  in  them  !  —  where  hon- 
est men  are  scarcer  than  hen's  teeth,  and  a  strange  woman  once 
took  in  your  beloved  preacher,  and  bamboozled  him  outen  two 
hundred  and  fifty-seven  dollars  in  the  twinkling  of  a  sheep's 
tail ;  but  she  can't  do  it  again,  Hallelujah  !  '  for  they  shall  gnaw 
a  file  and  flee  into  the  mountings  of  Hepsidam,  whar  the  lion 
roareth  and  the  whangdoodle  mourneth  for  her  first-born  ! ' " 

The  conviction  that  that  particular,  and  therefore  every  other 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  235 

woman,  was  not  so  easily  read  as  vanity  declared  they  could  be, 
came  in  a  single  glance  she  one  day  darted  at  him.  It  lasted 
less  than  a  second  of  time,  but  it*told  a  story  not  rehearsable 
in  an  entire  century  of  time,  which,  all  things  considered,  was 
rather  a  discouraging  conviction  in  itself,  yet  was  the  direct 
means  of  recalling  to  his  memory  certain  conversations  held  with 
some  of  his  Arab  friends  on  the  banks  of  old  Nilus,  and  under 
the  gray  shadows  of  the  pyramids  of  Sakhara,  in  the  far-off 
Egyptian  lands.  Information  laid  by  and  forgotten  among 
heaps  of  other  notes,  but  which,  exhumed  from  their  long 
graves,  shall  here  be  condensed  for  the  benefit  of  those  who 
read  this  book. 

It  would  be  hard  to  name  anything  in  the  world  we  live  in 
more  or  even  as  expressive  as  a  woman's  eye.  In  the  woman's 
eye  elsewhere  indicated  the  writer  found  one  day  an  entire 
heaven,  and  on  another  occasion  a  well-thronged  inferno,  with 
as  large  a  variety  of  devils  as  would  suffice  for  fifty  Miltons  and 
ten  thousand  Dantes.  Almost  always  really  unreadable  by 
man  is  a  woman's  orbs,  save  when  lit  up  with  passion,  and  then 
he  can  read  it  easy  enough,  while  everj-thing  else  therein  —  and 
their  name  is  legion  —  is  a  sealed  book,  as  a  common  thing,  save 
when  she  flashes  forth  unutterable  sentences,  and  sends  them, 
shafts  of  burning  fire,  through  his  very  soul,  whereupon  Mr. 
Man  speedily  concludes  that  he  didn't  know  quite  as  much  about 
her  as  he  thought  he  did.  There  is  nothing  more  atrociously 
common  than  for  a  man  to  totally  and  wholly  misinterpret  a 
woman's  glance,  —  its  expression  —  its  meaning  —  its  mysteri- 
ous echo-ness,to  coin  a  word  fraught  with  an  ocean  of  deep  and 
marvellous  significance.  There  are  legions  of  fools  who  pass 
for  wise  men,  wholly  unable,  by  reason  of  detestable  vanity  and 
absurd  egotism,  to  see  in  a  lady's  brightly  flashing  eye,  in  her 
pleasant,  glorious  coyness,  or  in  her  sweet,  soul-charged  smile, 
or  gayety  or  freedom  of  demeanor,  anything  more  than  passion 
or  impulse  that-ward,  and  an  invitation  for  themselves  to 
make  advances,  when  in  fact  both  the  mood  and  the  thought  are 
as  far  off  as  Boston  is  from  China,  or  the  North  Star  from 
Japan,  or  themselves  from  genuine  manhood  !     These  men  take 


236  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND    MARRIAGE. 

things  for  granted  vrithout  ever  asking  the  reason  why,  or  con- 
sidering what  the  result  may  likely  be.  They  are  ignorant  of 
human  nature,  and  woman's*especially.  They  are  chronically 
sick  and,  to  a  sensible  lady,  sickening.  They  never  see  any- 
thing but  sensualism  in  the  world.  They  behold  nothing  great 
or  glorious  in  woman,  —  nothing  nobler  in  her  than  the  capacity 
of  ministering  to  one  side,  and  that  a  perverted  one,  of  their 
natures.  The  flashing  eye  of  the  petite  brunette,  and  the 
snowy  expanse  of  billowy  bosom  of  the  stately  blonde,  are  alike 
suggestive  of  wicked  thoughts  to  them  ;  and  the  idea  that  a 
woman  is  a  rational,  thinking,  responsible  power  in  the  world, 
and  an  immortal  soul  besides,  created  for  loftier  purposes  than 
they  dream  of,  never  once  crosses  their  minds  —  what  little  of 
such  they  may  chance  to  possess. 

While  woman's  eye,  when  she  chooses  to  hide  herself  behind 
it,  is  a  deep  riddle,  yet  when  her  soul  is  really  engaged  and 
moved,  he  who  runs  may  read  ;  and  driven  be  he  from  among 
honorable  men  who  shall  then  seek  to  take  advantage  of  what 
that  glancing  story  tells.  If  he  does  so,  and  to  her  ruin,  it  is 
equally  certain  that  it  is  likewise  to  his  own  ;  for  time  and  na- 
ture, if  not  herself  and  society,  are  sure  to  make  reprisals 
sooner  or  later,  and  in  one  form  or  another. 

If  a  woman's  affections  are  in  motion,  it  is  a  very  difficult 
thing  for  her  to  conceal  herself  if  she  lets  her  eye  be  seen  by  an 
expert.  It  matters  not  how  strenuously  she  may  strive  to  dis- 
guise her  real  feelings  so  far  as  her  e}Tes  are  concerned,  for  he 
who  truly  knows  her  nature  can  read  her  soul  at  will  through 
the  magic  iris-play. 

A  curious  fact :  If  a  man  does  not  win  a  woman  in  the  very 
first  hour  of  his  company  with  her,  no  other  being  by,  his  vic- 
tory does  not  amount  to  much.  Another :  If  a  woman  is  able 
to  resist  a  man's  importunity  for  the  same  time,  under  the  same 
conditions,  she  is  safe  from  that  man  forever  afterward ;  and, 
if  she  subsequently  loses  sight  of  prudence,  the  fault  is  on  her 
own  part,  and  that  is  quite  as  great  as  his  rascality.  And  here 
is  the  reason  why :  Human  magnetism  is  the  vehicle  of  love 
and  ardor,  friendship  and  attachment.     Fluid  :  it  mutually  flows 


WOMAN,   LOVE,  AND  MARRIAGE.  237 

from  each  to  each,  and  the  man's  magnetism  fills  her  every  fibre 
within  that  time,  which  it  can  never  wholly  do  thereafter. 
When  thus  charged  she  will  be  weaker  in  herself  and  more 
strongly  drawn  to  him  ;  and  if  her  strength  is  not  great  enough 
to  mean  as  well  as  say  "  No,"  she  is  lost.  When  the  tides  are 
highest  they  begin  to  ebb.  Therefore,  hereafter,  let  no  woman 
who  reads  this  book  complain  of  seduction,  for  by  her  will  she 
can  drive  back  the  flow  magnetic  in  spite  of  Mr.  Would  be, 
and  if  the  return  tide  begins  before  the  hour  ends,  she  is  safe 
from  Jiim,  if  not  from  herself. 

Many  men  have  seen  marvellous  wonders,  but  no  man  ever 
yet  saw  a  woman  who  was  willing  to  admit  herself  to  be  in  the 
wrong.  Some  one  else  is  alwaj's  to  blame,  never  herself.  This 
is  queer,  but  true.  Now,  why  is  this  thus?  The  writer  don't 
know  ;  reader,  do  you? 

One  very  strange  bit  of  absolute  and  wholly  unpardonable 
ignorance  prevails  almost  universally  among  people  of  the 
Christian  faith,  by  which  is  meant  those  of  Caucasian  lineage. 
They  do  not  know  how  to  preserve  wedded  love,  and  fail  to 
comprehend  that  the  very  means  whereby  it  is  ruthlessly  killed 
can  also  be  made  the  instrumentality  of  its  purification,  growth, 
intensification,  and  perpetuity.  This  truth  is,  or  ought  to  be, 
clearly  self-apparent  to  every  reasoning,  thinking  person.  For 
instance,  if  he,  she,  or  they,  icill  to  engage  the  other's  soul,  and 
blend  therewith,  and  cleave  thereto,  there  comes  into  play  a 
permeating  potency,  and  power,  and  energ3r,  which,  growing 
stronger  all  the  while,  finally  and  permanently,  fairly  seizes 
upon,  and  joins  in  one,  both  souls ;  and  when  that  fusion 
takes  place  aberrations  from  fascination  by  others  become  a 
simple  impossibility. 

We  are  all  reachable  through  the  avenues  of  sense,  and  of  all 
others  most  readily  through  that  of  sight.  Thousands  of  wives 
and  husbands  there  are  who  have  never  once  looked  each  other 
fairly  in  the  eyes,  and,  therefore,  have  wholl}-  neglected  to  use 
the  most  direct  road  to  their  partners'  souls.  General  knowl- 
edge of  us  all,  and  of  woman  especially,  must  be  had  mainly 
through  the  eye.     Properly  pursued  the  study  leads  to  grand 


238  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

knowledges  and  results.  In  a  little  while  a  man  becomes  an 
expert  of  the  eye,  interpreting  its  sneer,  contempt,  hope, 
volupty,  passione,  hatred,  envy  ;  its  glare,  denial,  invitation, 
repulse,  defiance ;  its  beams  of  love  ;  its  tenderness  of  affec- 
tion ;  its  filiatude,  anger,  rage,  suspicion ;  its  lust  of  power  or 
of  joy  ;  its  hardness,  invulnerability  or  yieldingness,  and  jeal- 
ousy. Nor  is  this  all ;  for  even  a  spotless  virgin's  eye  reveals 
the  fact,  and  more,  and  a  young  girl's  eye  will  tell  the  story 
whether  her  virtue  has  been  tampered  with  successfully  or  not. 
And  yet  more;  if  a  married  woman  is  false  and  "illegally" 
favors  another  than  her  lord,  —  which  is  mighty  apt  to  be  the 
case  in  these  rapid  daj^s,  —  if  she  fails  to  have  true  love  at 
home,  the  favor  granted  to  another  is  photographed  in  her 
eye  so  completely  that  it  can  plainly  be  read  ;  and,  by  a  good 
Feronee,  even  the  features  of  the  favored  one,  the  time,  place, 
the  circumstance,  can  be  traced  unerringly,  simply  because 
past  events,  like  future  ones,  invariably  cast  their  shadows ; 
so  that  by  virtue  of  the  magnetic  laws  of  space,  time,  matter, 
and  the  human  frame,  nothing  whatever  can  be  hidden. 

Whosoever  loves  not,  exists  not.  There  are  various  loves  in 
existence  ;  as  beauty  love,  which  don't  amount  to  much ;  free 
love,  which  amounts  to  less  ;  that  which  has,  perhaps,  vulgarly 
been  stigmatized  as  "puppy  love,"  —  nothing  to  it.  Only 
womanly,  manly,  conjugal  love  counts  for  anything  in  the 
game  of  life,  and  not  that  till  well  tried. 

That  is,  indeed,  a  very  poor  marriage  and  worse  love  which 
fears  to  trust  its  object  out  of  sight.  For  perfect  love  casteth 
out  fear,  and  begets  a  confidence  which  volcanoes  and  earth- 
quakes of  passion  shall  be  powerless  to  shake.  How  much  of 
such  is  there  in  our  world  to-day !  The  principle  of  perfect 
confidence  is  almost  entirely  lost  sight  of  in  these  modern 
times,  and  general  distrust  on  both  sides  is  the  rule,  and  abso- 
lute trust  the  rare  exception  ;  and  that  distrust,  and  its  sad 
effects,  result  from  a  variety  of  causes,  the  most  prominent  of 
which  shall  here  be  briefly  set  forth.  In  the  first  place  both 
men  and  women,  while  acknowledging  sex  and  the  majority  of 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  239 

its  exterior  reasonings,  are  almost  universally  ignorant  of  its 
deeper  meanings.  They  practically  use  life  as  if  it  were  to  end 
at  the  door  of  the  tomb,  and  notoriously  in  effect  ignore  the 
stupendous  truth  that  we  are  but  in  the  very  early  morning  of 
a  ceaseless  day,  a  life  of  activities  infinitely  stretched  out  and 
prolonged.  People  reason  that  sex  is  for  love,  passion,  utility, 
change,  and  little  dream  that  it  means  fathomless  things,  ener- 
gies, creations,  whole  eternities  of  unimagined  beatitudes  and 
glories. 

On  a  less  exalted  plane  it  means  magnetic  ebb  and  flow, 
equilibrium,  chemical  peace,  electric  and  nerval  fusion,  soul- 
mingling,  and  the  dual  unification.  They  realize  the  human 
and  external  reasons  of  sex,  but  do  not  cognize  its  internal  and 
divine  ones.  They  fail  to  realize  that  among  all  the  other 
countless  triplicities  of  being,  life  and  nature,  there  is  one  also 
to  love,  and  to  its  expression,  passionally,  or  amorously.  How 
few  people  there  are  who  realize  soul,  spirit,  body,  these  three, 
as  constituting  themselves  personally  !  and  that  nothing  they 
do  is  well  done  unless  these  three  do  it !  How  few  realize  that 
a  child  parented  of  body  merely,  must  be  body  mainly,  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave  !  or  that  one  who  is  the  result  of  a  psychical 
or  mental  attachment  without  the  rare  fire  kindled  of  energetic 
physique,  which  should  accompany  it,  must  ever  be  pale,  thin, 
slender,  ethereal,  lack  nerve,  bone,  muscle,  but  at  the  same 
time  have  an  overplus  of  brain  !  Now  there  might  be  a  ming- 
ling of  soul,  spirit,  body,  to  the  construction  of  a  true  marriage 
and  its  living  fruits,  to  say  nothing  about  its  moral,  mental, 
metaphysical  and  domestic  results.  All  departures  from  the 
triplicate  union  is  descensive  love  ;  its  products  will  be  descen- 
sive  also,  and  the  children  be  angular,  one-sided  halfnesses  in 
every  conceivable  respect. 

It  is  a  heavy  crime  against  Nature,  God,  and  the  human  race 
to  in  any  sense  be  a  party,  active  or  passive  in  any  wrong,  es- 
pecially of  the  sort  here  alluded  to,  because  all  mere  passionalism 
alone  is  an  infernalism  pure  and  simple,  and  invariably,  sadly, 
demoralizes  both  the  woman  and  the  man  ;  and  its  results  are 


240  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AKT)    MAIUllAGE. 

of  a  merely  negative,  transient  character,  inevitably  followed 
with  smothered  disgust  and  quasi  hate  on  both  sides. 

The  true  and  divine  marriage,  on  the  other  hand,  is  mutually 
ascensive,  celestial,  normal,  healthful,  non-exhaustive,  un- 
depletive.  It  is  a  holy,  pure,  mutual  joy,  —  fit  for  immortal 
gods  !  It  is  the  lamp  that  lights  the  road  of  life.  It  satisfies 
soul,  the  hope,  the  spirit,  and  the  natural  demise  of  such  a 
blending  leaves  husband  and  wife  in  the  arms  of  God,  lapped 
in  the  dear  delight  of  Heaven  itself !  For  all  of  which  reasons 
it  is  clear  that  wrong  and  vice  do  not  pay,  never  did,  will,  and 
never  can  be  fruitful  of  other  than  the  most  atrocious,  debasing, 
unmanning,  unwomaning  results ;  and  the  less  one  mingles 
therein  the  better  for  the  world  and  man ! 

Were  these  truths  well-grounded  in  the  common  mind,  there 
would  be  fewer  Medeas  and  Ariadnes  in  the  world ;  for  men 
would  cling  to  their  wives  and  homes,  instead  of  searching  for 
lame  excuses  for  deserting  both.  If  love  at  home  prevailed, 
the  itch  of  gab  which  so  alarmingly  prevails  among  the  strong- 
minded  would  cease ;  and  mothers-in-law  would  find  their 
present  occupation  gone,  —  for  it  mainly  consists  now  in  sowing 
distrust  and  dissensions  in  families  where  concord  otherwise 
would  and  ought  to  reign,  and  peace  and  love  have  supreme 
sway. 

Husbands  should  be  loving,  not  merely  intellectual,  to  their 
wives  ;  for  a  woman  seldom  cares  a  snap  about  theories,  logic, 
and  reasonings,  for  she  wants  and  demands  practical  love, 
affection,  fondling,  loveness!  Give  any  woman  this,  and  her 
whole  personality  will  be  one  rapt  smile  ;  and  for  it,  in  any  way, 
she  will  pray  without  ceasing  and  in  everything  give  thanks. 
"When  she  has  that,  even  though  the  father  of  the  child  she  is 
bearing  be  in  everything  below  par,  }Tet  will  she  so  perform  her 
maternal  work  as  to  give  a  comparative  giant  of  mind  to  the 
world  and  mankind  ;  as  an  illustrative  proof  of  which  let  the 
case  of  the  mother  of  the  man  known  as  Napoleon  III.  be 
adduced  :  Verhuiel,  the  Dutch  admiral,  was  famous  for  nothing 
except  his  love  intrigue  with  Napoleon's  mother,  who  bore  that 
very  famous  child  to  the  Dutchman,  after  the  absence  of  her 


woman;  love,  and  marriage.  241 

husband  had  been  prolonged  something  over  a  year;  yet  so  full 
was  she  of  the  glory-sphere  exhaled  from  the  name  Bonaparte  — 
that  she  so  filled  her  unborn  child  with  it  as  to  make  his  body 
a  Dutch  Verhuiel,  and  his  soul  as  true  and  grand  a  Bonaparte 
as  ever  drew  the  breath  of  life ;  and  yet  not  one  single  tiny 
drop  of  the  Corsican's  blood  ran  in  his  veins  ! 

"  Ah,  me  !  ah,  me !  how  bitterly  we  regret  that  we  failed  to 
know  each  other  better  ! "  comes  in  mournful  strains  to  many  a 
parted  man  and  woman's  soul,  across  the  bitter  waste  of 
strangled  years.  How  many  of  us  have  taken  false  steps,  and 
in  anger  said  cruel  things,  and  acted  foolishly,  hastily,  child- 
ishly. My  God,  my  God,  what  would  we  not  now  give  could 
we  recall  the  past,  and  undo  the  silly  deed  we  did,  under  the 
frenzied  impulse  of  a  moment's  madness  !  How  many  a  man 
clasps  the  dear  memory  of  her  he  left,  and  tearfully,  in  the  lone 
silence  of  his  soul  exclaims,  "  O  woman,  woman,  I  did  not  know 
your  value  ;  and  now  you  are  gone,  gone,  and  I  —  I  am  so  deso- 
late !  "  and  as  the  thought  rises,  the  salt  tears  flow  apace.  But 
alas  !  it  is  too  late!    Great  heaven,  too  late ! 

How  many  thousands  of  women  are  there  in  the  world  to- 
day upon  whose  sky  of  peace  and  love  and  hope  the  sun  has 
forever  set  in  this  world  !  Women  who  in  a  weak  moment  have 
made  experiments  —  fatal  ones  —  and  lost  their  all.  "Women  who 
have  listened  to  the  oily  tongues  of  bad  advisers,  and  in  a  fit 
of  anger,  jealousy,  or  whim,  have  left  husband,  honor,  home, 
and  hope  behind  !  What  would  they  not  give  to  be  once  more 
queen  of  the  household  they  have  abandoned  for  —  a  shadow  — 
perhaps  —  full  of  promise,  but  empty  as  a  hollow  sound? 

There  was  none  of  this  sort  of  thing  before  the  birth  of  Rad- 
icalism and  Pseudo  Eeform.  There  -will  be  none  of  it  when 
they  are  dead  and  in  their  graves,  —  graves  which  every  honest 
man  and  woman  will  help  to  dig  both  wide  and  deep,  and  there- 
in bury  them  from  mortal  sight,  forever  and  forever  more ! 

The  writer  of  this  series  of  books  has  been,  by  circumstances 
of  birth  mainly,  compelled  to  fight  a  most  fearful  and  long- 
enduring  duel  writh  the  world  and  the  age,  from  the  moment, 
when,  at  five  years  of  age,  he  was  thoughtlessly  deserted,  and 


242  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

left  alone  in  the  streets  of  New  York  —  his  natal  place  —  by 
the  man  who  called  his  mother  wife,  and  although  not  beaten  — 
because  truth  and  her  champions  are  never  wholly  defeated  —  is, 
nevertheless,  exceedingly  weary.  And  even  so  is  it,  in  other  lines 
of  life,  with  countless  thousands  of  others, — they  are  weary, 
weary,  weary,  and  the  burden  of  their  life-song  is  rest  —  rest ;  — 
oh,  for  but  a  little  rest !  for  Ave  are  aweary,  aweary  ;  would  that 
we  were  —  dead  !  —  husbands  —  some  of  them  —  but  wives  main- 
ly, all  of  whom  have  had  all  defeats  and  no  triumphs  at  all. 
It  was  to  champion  the  cause  of  such,  that  Casca  Llanna 
turned  his  pen,  and  raised  his  voice  —  without  a  solitary  friend 
to  encourage  him  by  word,  or  look,  or  a  single  dollar  —  alone ! 
against  that  which  desolated  his  hearth  and  home,  as  it  has 
thousands  of  those  upon  whom  it  breathed  its  fetor  —  American 
Ultraism.  Hopeless  task?  Never  a  bit  of  it.  Those  who 
think  so  are  little  aware  of  what  an  earnest  soul  may  do ;  and 
Casca  Llanna  will  fight  it  out  so  long  as  life  lasts.  Villains! 
what  have  you  done  with  his  wife?  So  long  as  the  grass 
springs  upon  that  little  grave  on  the  hillside ;  so  long  as  the 
memory  of  her  tearful  face,  uplifted  for  mercy  from  the  carpet 
of  wrong ;  just  so  long  will  he  thrust  back  the  lie  in  the  throats 
of  the  liars  !  —  those  who  dare  claim  that  marriage  is  a  thing  to 
be  abolished  —  that  satanalias  of  unbridled  license  may  take 
its  holy  place. 

Let  the  good  fight  go  on !  Help  ye,  who  have  felt  the  snake's 
fangs  in  your  quivering  hearts  ;  help  strike  this  atheistic  monster 
down  !  Strike  hard  and  strike  home  !  For  victory  must  come, 
and  the  religion  of  Christ  take  its  rightful  place  in  human  hearts 
and  human  practice,  to  the  utter  destruction  of  all  the  "re- 
formatory "  abominations  on  the  planet. 

Not  a  few  of  the  love-mischances  of  people  are  referable  to 
their  own  faults.  Thus  many  a  man  wrecks  himself  on  the 
alluring  rocks  of  beauty,  heedless  of  its  meretriciousness,  and 
neglectful  of  what  ought  to  underlie  it,  —  integral  character  and 
moral  worth.  Just  so  insane  are  thousands  of  the  other  sex% 
who,  vainly  imagining  their  fair  and  market  will  last  forever, 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  243 

put  on  airs  and  rush  into  bliud  flirtation  and  coquetry,  keeping 
it  up  with  a  fervor,  until  some  fine  day  they  awaken  to  the 
startling  fact  that  their  power  is  vanished,  and  they  must  either 
put  up  with  a  marriage  de  convenance,  utterly  repugnant  and 
distasteful,  in  extremis,  or  enter  the  desolate  domains  of  old 
maidhood. 

Well  does  the  writer  remember  a  case  in  point.  Close  by 
where  he  once  dwelt,  in  the  far-off  sunny  south,  hard  by  one 
of  the  baj-ous  which  carry  off  the  surplus  waters  of  old  Mis- 
sissipi,  and  empty  them  in  the  Mexican  Gulf,  through  the  Lou- 
isiana lowlands  low,  there  dwelt  a  regal  woman,  of  peerless 
beauty,  and  imperious  and  imperial  spirit.  Her  father's  plan- 
tation was  full  seven  good  miles  long ;  and  was  cultivated  by 
fifteen  hundred  black  bondmen  and  women,  in  the  clays  before 
the  whole  South  ran  crazy  with  the  idea  of  Empire  based  on  hu- 
man slavery.  The  cotton  crop  and  sugar  gave  eight  hundred 
thousand  dollars  annual  income ;  and  if  by  chance  money  was 
scarce,  and  the  spirited  beauty  wanted  something,  she  never 
hesitated  to  pack  off  a  black  man  or  two  for  sale  in  the  sham- 
bles of  New  Orleans  or  Baton  Rouge. 

None  so  gay,  brilliant,  and  conceited,  as  the  belle  of  the  par- 
ish ;  and  of  course  her  hand,  heart,  and  her  heirship  to  broad 
acres,  brought  many  a  sighing  suitor  to  her  feet ;  and  when  she 
had  woven  the  meshes  and  web  of  her  spells  about  them,  and 
the}'  were  inextricably  entangled,  she  sat  down  to  her  Paris 
grand  piano,  and  gave  them  their  rejection  and  dismissal,  while 
aloud  and  sweetly  she  plaj^ed  and  warbled,  — 

"  On  the  Banks  of  Allan  Water." 

Everybody  knows  that  slavery  was  in  some  sense  a  patri- 
archal institution ;  and  that  some  favored  servitors  made  them- 
selves both  free  in  speech  and  familiar  in  act,  with  their  mas- 
ters and  their  ladies,  to  a  degree  quite  surprising  to  those 
northerners,  who,  while  professing  great  love  for  the  negro  and 
his  cause,  nevertheless  hate  and  despise  him  with  an  unction  and 
fervor  never  3ret  known  in  the  South.  Philanthropy  toward  the 
black  man  has  in  nine  cases  in  every  ten  been  a  mere  profession 
in  the  North !  —  a  convenient  hobby  to  ride  toward  political  pre- 


244  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

ferment,  or  stump  oratorical  notoriety.  The  love  for  the  black 
was  and  is  a  hollow  pretence  ;  for  the  negro  was  always  nearer 
to  the  white  man's  heart  in  the  South  than  to  the  pale  Yankee 
of  the  East ;  and  a  black  has  a  fairer  chance  to-day  in  the  South 
than  in  the  East.  Indeed,  may  God  help  the  man  of  even  a  drop 
of  colored  blood  in  the  North,  for  he  is  the  pariah  of  pariahs ; 
and  though  he  has  the  talent  and  genius  of  a  Raphael  or  Le 
Sage,  yet  whatever  thief  or  harlot  with  a  white  skin  meets  him 
in  the  North,  feels  warranted,  by  the  fact  of  hue,  in  grossly  in- 
sulting him  at  any  time,  and  anywhere,  and  is  practically  backed 
in  so  doing  by  society  at  large, —  except  at  voting  time ! 
Bosh !  Northern  philanthropy  is  a  sham  and  utter  cheat,  as 
well  as  much  of  northern  morals. 

But  to  resume  the  story :  — 

Well,  on  that  plantation  was  an  old  negro  who  made  quite 
as  free  in  the  family  affairs  as  if  his  color  and  relationship  were 
both  of  the  proper  stamp  ;  and  Uncle  Ben,  surprised  at  his  young 
mistress  discarding  so  many  suitors,  one  after  another,  made 
bold,  one  day,  to  "  ax  de  reason  why  ?  "  "  Because,  Uncle  Ben, 
it  suits  me  to  do  so  —  that's  all !  "  she  replied,  and  forthwith 
broke  out  with : 

"  On  the  Banks  of  Allan  "Water." 

By  and  by  the  war  came ;  victory  gave  her  crown  to  northern 
brows ;  slaves  became  freedmen,  freedmen  became  fifteenth 
amendments,  and  these  last  were  transformed  into  legislators, 
members  of  congress,  senators,  and  foreign  ministers.  Confis- 
cation followed  the  war,  and  great  families  were  broken  up,  and 
great  estates  divided  into  small  cotton  and  sugar  farms,  tilled 
by  those  who  were  once  peons  of  the  soil. 

Our  aristocratic  family  shared  tke  common  fate,  and  its 
members  killed  or  were  scattered  abroad  in  the  land.  Then, 
ah,  then,  how  bitterly  the  belle  mourned  her  folly  !  for  now  she 
had  no  protector  ;  while  time  and  trouble  dashed  with  sallow 
lines  her  once  brilliant  cheeks,  and  —  she  fell  —  for  she  sold 
what  was  left  of  her  beauty,  and  for  a  time  maintained  a  wild 
sort  of  independence  and  —  defiance.  But  by  and  by  even  that 
failed  her,  and  pride  caused  her  to  change  her  mode  of  life,  and 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND    MARRIAGE.  245 

to  seek  consolation  in  another  line  of  conduct,  and  in  a  higher 
grade  of  life,  in  one  of  our  northern  cities,  where  whom  should 
she  meet  one  day,  but  jolly  old  Uncle  Ben,  and  "  Why,  bress  de 
Lord,  dis  chile  reckon  dat  am  de  young  missus !  hi,  yah,  yah!'9 
"Yes,  Uncle  Ben,  it  is  me;  I  am  poor  now,  —  these  eight 
years  past,  and" — "Dat  am  enuff,  Missus,  Old  Ben"  hab  got 
plenty  land,  and  some  money,  an  you'se  welcome  to  bofe,  — 
bress  de  Lamb  !  But  den  I  gone  done  tole  you  so,  long  ago  !  " 
—  "  Told  what,  Uncle  Ben  ? "  —  "  Why,  I  done  tole  you  ef  you 
didn't  stop  broken  de  gemman's  hearts,  and  didn't  take  one  ob 
dem  for  a  husband,  dat  one  day,  fo'  de  Lord,  you'd  be  jis  whar 
you  is."  —  "  Where's  that,  Uncle  Ben?  "  —  "  Why,  jis  zackly 
whar  you  is  now  — 

"  On  de  banks  ob  Alum  water!" 

There  are  two  distinct  worlds  in  which  we  live  on  earth ;  but 
then  only  here  and  there  a  person  can  be  found  who  fully  real- 
izes this  fact.  These  worlds  are  the  female  and  the  male.  In 
California  and  the  West,  generalty,  there  is  a  great  prepon- 
derance of  the  male  element ;  while  in  Massachusetts  and  New 
England  the  female  one  predominates  largely,  and  the  mag- 
netic sphere  of  woman  abounds  everywhere  with  an  almost 
overpowering  force.  This  is  generally  true,  also,  of  all  large 
cities,  especially  London,  Paris,  Hamburg,  New  York,  Berlin, 
Vienna,  and,  above  all  others,  Lowell,  Lawrence,  Fall  River, 
Newport,  and  Lewiston,  in  Maine,  and  Boston,  which  excels 
them  all ;  hence  these  places,  and  all  others  like  them,  are  full 
of  one-sided,  angular  people,  and  a  chronic,  amative  fever  pre- 
vails ;  in  consequence  of  which,  as  a  general  thing,  women  are 
at  a  discount,  and  not  half  so  well  cared  for  or  appreciated  as 
elsewhere,  in  localities  where  the  male  element  prevails.  Now 
in  a  household  where  either  one  element  and  influence  —  hus- 
band's or  wife's  —  so  far  predominates  as  to  hold  the  other  in 
entire  abeyance  and  subjection,  there  can  be  no  real  love  or 
assimilation.  There  must  be  mutual  yielding  or  there  can  be 
no  mutual  happiness. 

The  inside  of  marriage,  that  which  no  one  outside  can  see, 


246  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE. 

or  know  anj-thing  whatever  about,  the  inner  and  very  often 
bitter  life  of  it,  needs  reconstructing  and  reforming  on  a  vast 
scale,  else  we  will  never  get  rid  of  the  myriad  skeletons  in  the 
closets  of  Christendom,  especially  the  Yankee  part  thereof, 
where  such  things  abound  much  more  than  anywhere  else,  — 
even  wife-beating  England ;  for  your  average  British  wife  is  not 
near  so  finely  strung  or  sensitive  nerved  as  is  her  average 
American  sister,  and  the  English  and  Canadian  wife  is  noto- 
riously ten  times  happier  than  are  those  this  side  the  border  or 
the  sea  ;  consequently,  the  marriage  ship  hereaway  is  so  rotten 
that  its  bottom  has  nearly  fallen  out ;  indeed,  it  has,  in  many 
instances,  dropped  down  altogether,  and  let  its  freight  plump 
and  square  into  the  surging  seas  of  discontent,  whence  a  few  — 
precious  few,  too,  compared  to  the  masses  —  manage  to  get 
their  heads  above  water  by  climbing  up  the  rough  and  jagged 
rocks  of  divorce.  Divorce !  nine-tenths  of  them  the  fruit  of 
rank  perjuiy,  or  gum-elastic  truth  stretched  to  its  utmost  ten- 
sion !  But  fair  or  foul,  it  is  far  too  easily  attainable.  Of 
course,  in  extreme  cases,  such  a  step  is  justifiable ;  but  never 
ought  to  be  allowed  until  the  parties  prove  that,  in  spite  of  long 
and  persistent  trying  to  mend  matters,  all  efforts  have  proved 
futile.  In  such  cases  let  divorce  come,  and  the  quicker  the 
better  for  all  concerned. 

It  is  rather  ominous  that  divorces  have  increased  at  least  five 
hundred  per  cent,  since  the  advent  of  woman's  rightism ;  and 
not  a  dozen  people  have  really  been  rendered  happier  thereby  ; 
on  the  contrary,  regrets  deep  and  bitter  have  rankled  many  a 
heart. 

Objecting  to  quote  others,  yet  it  is  impossible  to  resist  the 
insertion  here  of  a  floating  scrap  cut  from  some  ephemeral 
newspaper,  in  the  subjoined  words  :  "  The  most  determined  and 
dangerous  foe  of  the  marital  relation  is  found  in  a  perverted 
and  exaggerated  individualism  ;  a  doctrine  which  gives  vitality 
to  most  of  the  arguments  advanced  in  favor  of  woman  suffrage 
by  many  of  its  leading  advocates."  There,  that's  just  it ',  for  the 
irrational  gabble  of  the  woman's  rights  advocates,  as  a  general 
thing,  has  a  deleterious  effect  upon  whatever  woman  listens  to 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  247 

it.  It  tends  directly  to  unfit  her  for  the  place  and  position  God 
himself  assigned  her  in  the  economies  of  the  world.  Under- 
stand :  the  right  to  vote  if  she  wants  to  is  not  here  denied  her. 
Let  her  do  so,  and  stuff  ballots  till  she  gets  sick  of  it.  But  will 
that  make  her  any  happier  at  home  ?  Will  she  retain  her  deli- 
cacy? Will  she  preserve  and  conserve,  nay,  will  she  deserve 
that  tender  and  chivalrous  gallantry  and  respect  accorded  her 
now?  Can  she  then  command  a  tithe  of  the  homage  which 
every  well-bred  man  accords  her  at  present?  Doubtful.  Will 
not  the  sphere  of  party  and  politics  unsex  woman?  Are  not 
its  chief  advocates  now  either  grannies  in  pantaloons,  or  what- 
is-its  in  crinoline?  By  no  means,  would  the  writer  advocate 
the  subjection  of  women  ;  but,  rather,  would  grant  them  perfect 
equality  on  the  middle  grounds  of  life,  but  would  insist  that 
neither  man  nor  woman  should  trench  upon  the  spheres  natu- 
ralty  existing  as  sex  distinctions.  To  both,  he  would  and  does 
say,  Live  out  your  full  life,  each  for  him  and  herself;  but  let 
there  be  a  still  larger  field,  wherein  the  individualities  shall 
meet  and  fuse,  and  wherein  the  dual  oneness,  the  double  unit 
shall  abolish  sex  distinctions  as  such ;  and  let  that  rule  and 
reign,  for  that  field  is  The  Home. 

"  Gentlemen,  I  have  the  misfortune  to  be  married  to  this 
woman,"  was  actually  said  apologetically.  But  what  a  state  of 
society  is  the  present,  where  the  like  is  thought,  if  not  said,  by 
thousands  in  every  section  of  the  countiy,  every  day  in  the 
week,  and  every  week  in  the  year !  An  author  said,  "  Who  so 
short-sighted  as  a  married  man,  except  it  be  a  married  woman  !  " 
That  is  true  —  and  false  at  the  same  time  —  for  of  all  the  short- 
sighted people,  a  married  man  is  the  most  so,  but  if  a  married 
woman  is  short-sighted,  she  is  long-headed  enough  to  make 
amends  for  it,  for  her  head  and  his  ears  are  very  often  of  exactly 
the  same  longitude.  Ten  men  in  a  thousand  may  possibly  be 
able  to  outwit  women ;  but  every  woman  in  fifty  millions,  if  she 
makes  up  her  mind  to  it,  will  triumphantly  circumvent  all  the 
men  yon  could  pack  between  Sandy  Hook  light-house  and  the 
star  Alcj'one,  and  not  think  it  a  difficult  task  either  !  If  women 
in  Turkish  harems,  where  the  jealousy  of  ages  guards  them,  are 


248  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AKD   MARRIAGE. 

equal  to  the  task  of  deceiving  their  masters, —  and  they  are!  — 
how  easy  for  their  superior  white-skinned  sisters  to  do  the  same ! 
Husbands  who  imagine  that  threats,  ill-treatment,  or  espionage, 
will  keep  their  discontented  wives  true  to  them,  had  better  lead 
blind  apes  to  water,  for  their  efforts  are  worse  than  thrown 
away ;  for  a  woman  thus  watched  and  treated  takes  the  most 
exquisite  delight  in  showing  her  smartness,  and  if  she  likes,  put- 
ting horns  on  her  benedict's  head,  just  for  pure  deviltry  alone, 
when  not  a  fibre  of  her  entire  being  otherwise  prompts  the  act. 

Love  only  can  keep  a  woman  true  !  There's  no  mistake  about 
that  matter.  It  were  an  easy  task  to  write  out  here  hundreds 
of  proofs  of  this  statement,  but  as  all  women  know  the  fact,  and 
all  men  ought  to,  and  may  learn  it  from  experience,  if  they  do 
not,  we  will  simply  let  the  statement  stand  exactly  as  it  is. 

Appearances  are  proverbially  deceitful,  and  none  more  so 
than  those  assumed  bjr  a  wife  who  has  reason  to  think  herself 
injured,  and  is  determined  to  play  an  ace  to  the  deceiver's  king, 
or  a  "  this  "  for  his  "  that."  There  is  one  particular  power  which 
every  woman  has,  which  men  are  generally  unpossessed  of,  and 
that  is  she  can  and  will  laugh  and  make  merry,  apparently,  at  the 
very  moment  her  heart-strings  are  strained,  cracking,  snapping, 
breaking,  and  her  soul  is  full  of  bitter  woe,  and  sweltering  in  a 
bath  of  anguish, —  acute,  exquisite  anguish  ;  and  if  she  wills  to  do 
so,  will  gooff  into  hysterics  of  mirth  to  all  appearance,  over  what 
actually  pierces  her  very  soul.  All  men  who  really  know  women 
at  all,  know  this.  Where  is  the  man  who  will  not  merely  put 
himself  to  inconvenience  to  oblige  and  happify  another,  but 
actually  and  voluntarily  submit  to  repeated  mental  and  physical 
torture  for  that  other's  sake?  Such  men  may  exist,  but  they 
are  very  scarce ;  —  while  there  is  not  a  married  woman  in  the 
whole  wide  world,  who  has  not  done  that  very  thing  as  many 
times  almost  as  she  has  hairs  on  her  head  !  —  facts  which  most 
men  are  wholly  blind  to  ;  but  which  it  were  for  their  own  hap- 
piness to  carefully  and  continually  bear  in  mind,  if  they  would 
have  marriage  to  be  what  it  ought, —  a  feast  of  fatness,  lasting 
for  life  ;  instead  of  what,  painfully  and  generally  it  is  —  the  di- 
rect opposite. 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  249 

If  a  man  or  woman,  in  the  loftier  sense,  is  true  to  him  or  her- 
self, it  is  impossible  to  be  false  to  others,  for  self-respect  is  the 
first  integer  in  a  genuine  man  or  womanhood. 

But  rampant  empiricism  prevails  in  all  things  —  at  least  it  did 
so  in  this  writer's  time.  "  I'm  your  friend  and  well-wisher !  " 
Quack  !  quack  !  "  I  adore  you  !  "  Quack  !  "  You're  my  idol,  my 
life,  my  love,  my  all  in  all !  "  Quack  !  quack !  quack  ! 

The  man  who  makes  fun  of  love  is  an  ass,  and  a  wretch  in 
the  bargain  ;  and  a  woman  who  does  the  same  is  weak  in  the 
upper  story.  How  gleefully  people  read  of  the  elopement  of  a 
wife  and  the  breaking  up  of  a  family  !  yet  let  the  same  disaster 
happen  to  themselves,  and  who  so  hungry  for  commiseration 
and  sympathy  as  they  ?  —  these  very  people  who  gayly  grin  at  the 
misery  of  any  wrecked  heart  and  shattered  home.  Most  of  us 
remember  the  story  current  during  the  slavery-abolishing  war. 
Those  who  have  not  heard,  will  here  find  the  story  just  as  cut 
from  the  columns  of  a  newspaper.     Saj's  the  scrap :  — 

"  Those  who  are  fond  of  a  little  life  history  are  requested  to 
read  the  following  by  '  Brick '  Pomeroy.  We  rather  imagine 
that  Mr.  Snicksnacker  is  not  the  only  gentleman  who  might 
sing  that  song  :  — 

"  •  Who's  pin  here  since  Ish  pin  gone  ? ' 

"  Hillflicker  Snicksnacker,  a  Teutonic  vender  of  sour  krout, 
wooden  combs,  crude  cabbage,  striped  mittens,  cotton  suspen- 
ders, and  such  '  little  dings,'  with  true  patriotic  zeal,  left  his 
home  in  La  Crosse  at  the  commencement  of  the  war,  and  en- 
listed as  a  slop  groceiy-keeper  behind  a  sutler's  tent  on  the 
Potomac.  When  he  went  away  it  was  with  the  intention  to 
make  some  monish  if  it  took  all  summer,  and  nobly  did  he  fight 
it  out  on  his  line.  How  he  did  it  is  best  told  as  he  related  it  to 
us  on  his  return  last  week  :  — 

"  You  see,  Mr.  Bumroy,  der  trum  peets,  und  der  call  coomes 
to  go  to  war  mit  arms.  Ise  de  batriot  so  much  as  Sheneral 
Washburn  or  Sheneral  Curtis,  or  Sheneral  Butler  or  Sheneral 
Bangs,  or  any  of  dem  men.     So  I  puys   some  little  dings,  and 


250  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE. 

gets  some  bapers  from  de  war  committee,  and  goes  mit  ter  poys 
ter  pe  batriots,  and  sell  my  little  dings,  und  makes  some  inonish. 
I  kiss  mine  vrow  five,  nineteen  dimes,  und  goes  mit  der  war. 
I  goes  to  Shambersburg,  und  makes  much  monish.  Un  day  I 
poke  mine  window  out  mine  head  to  hear  der  serenade  und 
dink  of  some  dings,  when  I  see  dat  Shtonewall  Shackson  mit 
his  troops  und  der  pig  prass  pand  coming  down  der  street 
playing  like  ter  tyfil  on  ter  prass  pand  :  — 

"  '  Who's  pin  here  since  Ish  pin  gone? ' 

"  Dat  Shtonewall  Shackson  is  ter  tyfil  mitfightins,  and  I  puts 
mine  monish  in  mine  bockets  un  mine  little  babers  in  mine  pag, 
and  I  goes  as  quick  as  never  vash  to  Gettysburg.  Und  dere 
I  opens  some  more  little  shtore  and  sells  some  little  dings. 
And  von  day  I  hears  men  ridin  down  ter  street  like  dunder, 
und  den  I  pokes  ter  winder  under  mine  head  and  looks  myself 
up  ter  shtreet,  and  der  comes  dat  t3rfil,  Shtonewall  Shackson, 
playing  dat  same  odder  tune  as  I  heard  before :  — 

"  '  Who's  pin  here  since  Ish  pin  gone?' 

"  Den  I  makes  mine  monish  gomes  inter  mine  bockets,  and 
makes  mine  pag  gome  inter  mine  babers,  und  puts  mine  sign 
on  ter  big  shtore  on  de  corner,  so  I  lose  more  goods  as  I  had 
not  got,  und  dinks  I  go  to  Wisconsin  to  see  mine  vrow  as  I 
haint  seen  in  dese  two  years,  so  long  time  as  never  vash. 

"  Den  I  gomes  home,  and  knoks  un  ter  door,  and  mine  vrow 
she  makes  talk  and  tells  me,  '  Who's  dar?  ' 

"  Den  I  say,  '  Hillflicker  Snicksnacker,'  und  she  knows  dat 
is  mine  names,  und  she  makes  herself  gome  out  of  ter  house, 
und  give  me  nine,  seven  times  kiss  on  my  face  so  good  as 
never  vash. 

"  Den,  Mr.  Bumroy,  I  looks  mit  mine  eyes,  und  I  sees  some 
dings  !  And  so  I  ask  mine  vrow  if  she's  bin  married  since  I  go 
off  to  be  batriot,  und,  if  she  no  get  married,  why  she  makes  so 
much  grow  when  I  be  gone  mit  ter  wars  ?  und  I  gets  mad  as 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  251 

de  tyfil,  und  den  I  tinks  of  dat  tam  Sheneral  Sthonewall  Shack- 
son,  and  his  pig  prass  pand,  and  I  sings  :  — 

"  •  Who's  pin  here  since  Ish  pin  gone? ' 

"  Und  now,  Mr.  Bumroy,  somepody  makes  trouble  mit  me, 
for  Ise  bin  gone  two  years,  und  I  knows  some  dings,  und  I 
goes  back  mit  ter  war,  und  I  sings  tat  tam  Sthonewall  Shack- 
son  all  ter  way  :  — 

"  *  Who's  pin  here  since  Ish  pin  gone? '  " 

Well,  that's  a  "  very  funny  "  story —  looked  at  by  unfeeling 
eyes ;  but  no  one  with  an  ounce  of  genuine  manhood  can  find 
it  in  his  heart  to  laugh  at  any  such  infernal  "  fun"  as  that  un- 
questionably is.  And  in  reply  to  the  poor  man's  question  :  Some 
infamous  scoundrel's  been  there  since  you've  been  gone !  for 
none  other  but  a  lecherous  wretch,  an  unmitigated  and  diabolic 
villain,  would  do  an  act  so  bestial  and  so  mean  as  that !  and 
whoever  is  base  enough  to  relish  that  sort  of  thing,  and  not 
feel  like  twisting  the  neck  of  such  a  sneaking  rascal  as  destroyed 
the  peace  of  an  honest  man,  stole  his  wife's  honor,  degraded 
his  family,  and  sowed  the  prolific  seeds  of  hell  and  murder  on 
his  hearth-stone,  is  not  a  genuine  man,  and  deserves  to  be 
treated  even  worse  than  the  poor  Teuton  was.  All  such 
"  fun  "  as  that,  carries  murder  at  its  back,  and  he  who  thinks 
it  witty  and  smart,  either  to  laugh  at  or  do  such  damnable 
things,  is  not  a  safe  member  of  society,  and  ought  to  be  pro- 
scribed from  all  circles  in  which  decent  people  move  ! 

It  is  astonishing  how  lax  public  morality  is  on  the  subject 
under  discussion.  Such  things  are  unknown  in  oriental  and 
even  savage  lands  ;  for  there  is  an  acknowledged  sacredness 
of  married  life  which  is  universally  respected,  because  the  known 
and  accepted  penalty  of  its  invasion  is  —  death  —  on  the  spot, 
or  wherever  the  spoliator  of  a  man's  home-side  can  be  found. 
If  society  here  recognized  the  same   law,  there  would  be  a 


252  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

sudden  scarcity  of  villains  such  as  ruined  the  peace  of  the  un- 
fortunate Teuton. 

One  terrible  soul  and  hope-killing  bane  of  woman's  wedded 
life  in  these  gormandizing,  sensualizing  daj^s  is  to  be  compelled 
to  respond,  or  appear  to,  without  inclination,  and  to  have  in- 
clination without  response.  This  last  ground  is  a  source  of 
great  complaint  by  husbands  —  so-called  !  —  really  it  makes  one 
laugh  to  hear  that  name  applied  to  them  !  —  and  yet  these  very 
grumblers  seem  unaware  that  it  is  their  own  fault  fifteen  hun- 
dred and  fifty-nine  times  in  every  fifteen  hundred  and  sixty 
cases.  These  very  unwise  males  forget  the  sage  adage, 
"  Where  there's  a  will  there's  a  way  "  —  and  not  via  the  doctor's 
shop  or  apothecary's  either  !  The  wggr  is  plain,  only  that  in  the 
general  pigness  it  is  lost  sight  of  nearly,  if  not  quite,  alto- 
gether. 

This  little  rhythmical  gem  tells  the  true  way  after  its  own 
quaint  fashion.     Study  it.     It  is  the  Chemist's  Love  Song  :  — 

"Oh,  come  where  the  cyanides  silently  flow, 
And  the  carburets  droop  o'er  the  oxides  below ; 
Where  the  rays  of  potassium  lie  white  on  the  hill, 
And  the  song  of  the  silicate  never  is  still. 

Come,  oh,  come! 

Tumti,  turn,  turn ! 

Peroxide  of  soda  and  urani-um ! 

°  While  alcohol  is  liquid  at  thirty  degrees, 
And  no  chemical  change  can  effect  manganese ; 
While  alkalies  flourish  and  acids  are  free, 
My  heart  shall  be  constant,  sweet  Polly,  to  thee ! 

Yes,  to  thee ! 

Fiddledum  dee ! 

Zinc,  boraz,  and  bismuth,  and  HO  -f-  C." 

A  husband's  love,  considerateness,  delicacy,  patience  and  re- 
straint should  exactly  equal  each  other,  and  be  pitched  in  the 
same  lofty  key ;  nor,  in  his  treatment  of  his  wife  should  he  ever 
lose  sight  of  prudence,  possibility,  or  the  chain  of  second  causes. 
A  good  chess-player  never  makes  a  move  without  a  motive,  and 


woman;  love,  and  marriage.  253 

very  frequently  saciifices  a  present  pleasure  in  view  of  future 
gain.  Well,  life  —  wedded  life,  especially  —  is  a  game  of 
chess  on  the  most  tremendously  imaginable  scale  ;  for  some  of  its 
moves  are  clear  into  eternity ;  therefore  it  should  be  carefully 
played. 

Gallant,  chivalrous  conduct  on  the  part  of  most  men  comes 
to  an  untimely  death  three  months  after  marriage,  in  far  too 
many  cases ;  and  the  love  exhibited  is  fitful,  spasmodic,  and 
comes  oftener  from  oyster  suppers  than  the  sacred  soul.  Now 
no  sensible  woman  likes  that  sort  of  thing.  It  isn't  what  she 
bargained  for,  and  had  a  right  to  expect.  She  wants  love  right 
from  the  very  core  of  his  heart,  right  to  the  core  of  her  own, 
and  whatever  it  may  fall  short  of  that  never  fills  the  bill. 
Every  woman  wants,  and  to  be  herself,  must  have,  not  periodic, 
rparoxysmally,  wordy  gab  and  boast,  of  how  much  he  thinks  of 
her,  and  all  that  sort  of  stereotyped  stuff,  but  steady  kindness, 
attention,  caresses,  love  ;  and  when  she's  kissed  by  him  does  not 
half  so  well  appreciate  a  sudden  touch,  and  whiskered  wipe,  as 
she  does  that  electric,  My  God-ical  I  sort,  which  leaps  from  his 
lips  to  the  throne  of  her  soul  and  wakens  a  marvellous  music 
there  !  —  something  that  thrills  and  tingles  her  very  soul,  and 
bathes  her  spirit  in  a  dear  delight,  —  a  foretaste  of  the  bliss 
ineffable,  only  to  be  realized  in  the  far-off  kingdoms  of  the 
starry  worlds.     Give  her  that,  and  she's  every  inch  a  queen. 

Some  husbands  —  so-called  —  ruin  their  own  homes  by  their 
mean,  low,  and  contemptible  stinginess  ;  never  give  her  a  dollar 
except  with  a  grunt  and  a  groan,  and  then  want  to  know  just 
how  it  is,  was,  or  may  be,  spent ;  and  yet  that  same  man  will 
treat  his  comrades,  who  don't  care  a  snap  for  him,  to  ten  times 
the  amount  she  wants  every  week,  without  a  solitary  grumble. 
And  yet  he  can't  buy  her  love  with  any  amount  of  money  he 
may  give  her ;  for,  as  expressions  of  affection,  little  presents 
tell  a  great  deal  better  story  than  forty  bank-notes.  And  yet 
the  writer  thinks  the  husband  who  plays  bank-notes  will  seldom 
lose. 

What  woman  needs  most  in  these  days  is  protection  from  the 


254  WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND    MARRIAGE. 

secret  and  hidden,  as  well  as  the  open,  brutalities  of  husband- 
age.  That  she  can  only  have  from  the  man  himself,  who  is  only 
man  when  he  protects  her  from  himself;  and  he  won't  do  that 
unless  he  really  loves  her. 

Without  a  woman  has  love  she  is  extremely  liable  to  become 
morbid  and  restive,  in  which  state  she  is  exceedingly  apt  to  pro- 
fess attachment  to  her  domestic  lord  ;  manifest  it  to  some  one 
else,  —  for  money,  —  or  other  advantages  ;  and  feel  it  for  a  third 
one  in  reality,  and  for  love  ! 

As  said  already,  a  perfect  marriage  is  a  perfect  fusion  and  in- 
terblending  of  two  distinct  individualities  into  one,  neither  of 
whom  can  ever  be  what  they  were  previous  thereto ;  because  in 
this  third  state  they  so  intermingle  and  become  incorporated  in 
every  sense,  as  to  even  take  each  other's  features ;  and  they 
are,  for  all  scientific  purposes,  emphatically  a  unit,  a  oneness 
conjugate,  indissoluble  in  the  flesh,  and  more  so  in  the  spirit,  — 
exactly  as  was  meant  to  be  the  case  in  the  beginning. 

Very  few  people  there  be  who  realize  marriage  in  this  celes- 
tial sense  and  degree ;  and  when  you  find  a  pair  who  do,  make 
a  mark  of  it,  for  it  is  good  for  the  eyesight ;  and  yet  there 
ought  to  be  myriads  of  just  such,  ay,  and  can  be  —  for  the  try- 
ing. Few  realize  that  it  actually  takes  two  to  make  a  complete 
one,  and  that  the  whole  world  is  full  to  repletion  of  married 
pieces,  rather  less  than  halfnesses  on  the  average. 

Another  chemist  understood  himself — and  the  subject  — 
when  he  wrote  to  his  sweetheart,  saying  :  — 

"  I  love  thee,  Mary,  and  thou  lovest  me. 
Our  mutual  flame  is  like  the  affinity 
That  doth  exist  between  two  simple  bodies. 
I  am  potassium  to  thy  oxygen ; 
'Tis  little  that  the  holy  marriage  vow 
Shall  shortly  make  us  one.     That  unity 
Is,  after  all,  but  metaphysical. 
Oh !  would  that  I,  my  Mary,  were  an  acid  — 
A  living  acid;  thou  an  alkali 

Endowed  with  human  sense  ;  that,  brought  together, 
We  might  both  coalesce  into  one  salt, 
One  homogeneous  crystal.     Oh,  that  thou 


WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE .  255 

Wert  carbon,  and  myself  hydrogen ! 

"We  would  unite  to  form  olefiant  gas, 

Or  common  coal  or  naphtha.     Would  to  hearen 

That  I  were  phosphorus  and  thou  wert  lime, 

And  we  of  lime  composed  a  phosphuret ! 

I'd  he  content  to  be  sulphuric  acid, 

So  that  thou  mightst  be  soda.     In  that  case 

We  should  be  Glauber's  salt.     Wert  thou  magnesia 

Instead,  we'd  form  the  salt  that's  named  from  Epsom. 

Couldst  thou  potassa  be,  I  aquafortis, 

Our  happy  union  should  that  compound  form; 

Nitrate  of  potash  —  otherwise  saltpetre, 

And  thus,  our  several  natures  sweetly  blent, 

We'd  live  and  love  together,  until  death 

Should  decompose  this  fleshly  Tertium  Quid, 

Leaving  our  souls  to  all  eternity 

Amalgamated !     Sweet,  thy  name  is  Briggs, 

And  mine  is  Johnson.     Wherefore  should  not  we 

Agree  to  form  a  Johnsonate  of  Briggs  ?  " 

Nothing  whatever  can  happen  without  adequate  producing 
causes  ;  and,  as  said  before,  chemistry,  in  both  its  material  and 
mental  or  metaphysical  departments,  is  that  universal  cause ; 
for  it  obtains  of  the  social,  domestic,  mental,  moral,  affectional, 
amatory,  as  distinguished  therefrom ;  and  of  the  emotional  and 
devotional  worlds,  quite  as  much  as  of  the  purely  plvysical ;  for 
the  affinities,  sympathies,  attractions,  repulsions,  and  direct  or 
oblique  antipathies,  are  even  more  clearly  drawn  and  marked  in 
the  hyper-material  realm  than  they  are  in  the  more  circum- 
scribed domain  of  pure  physics.  A  demonstrative  case  in 
point :  If  a  woman  marries  a  man,  strong,  forceful,  full  of 
varied  energies,  who  afterward  sinks  or  loses  his  verve  and 
manness,  a  chemical  change,  and  dynamic  as  well,  takes  place, 
of  course,  in  him,  aud  a  corresponding  one  is  wrought  in  her 
feelings  toward  the  emasculant,  the  result  and  upshot  of  which 
is,  that  he  can  no  more  retain  her  respect,  hence  womanly  affec- 
tion, than  a  humpback  whale  can  play  Belle  Helene  on  a  jews- 
harp ! 

A  newspaper  scrap  lying  on  the  desk  where  this  is  written, 
says  :  "  "Woe  to  him  who  lacks  energy  in  this  age  of  push.     He 


256  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

is  a  pigmy  among  Samsons.  The  little  life  he  has  in  him  is 
sure  to  be  trampled  out.  Onward  is  the  word,  and  the  vigorous 
marchers  are  pitiless.  They  time  their  steps  to  the  quick  beat- 
ing of  their  own  hearts,  and  keep  moving  while  the  pulse-throb 
lasts."  Few  will  deny  so  plain  a  thing,  because  its  truth  is 
printed  in  its  very  face.  It  is  doubly  true  of  all  that  relates  to 
marriage,  so  far  as  the  abstract  Woman  is  concerned ;  for 
beneath  the  individuality  of  every  female  there  is  a  vein  of 
what  is  common  to  the  universal  sex,  —  "Womanity,  to  coin  a 
phrase,  —  an  esprit  du  gendre,  nameless,  but  positive.  A  natural- 
born,  or  society-manufactured  male  imbecile,  whether  mental, 
moral,  affectional,  or  phy sical,  is  the  utter  abomination  of  every 
true,  or  even  half-woman  on  God's  broad  footstool ;  and  she 
just  as  instinctively  despises  him,  or  rather  it,  as  a  robin-red- 
breast despises  a  snow-bird,  or  a  San  Francisco  Gavroche  does 
a  heathen  Chinee.  It  never  was,  and  never  will  be,  in  any 
woman  to  love  or  respect  an}rthing  that  calls  itself  a  man,  but 
is  so  in  appearance  only.  Men  sometimes  do,  but  a  woman 
never  did,  and  never  will,  take  the  will  for  the  deed  in  any 
respect  whatever.  She  hates  a  phantom  man  thoroughly  and 
completely. 

There's  a  great  deal  of  difference  between  the  prose  and 
poetry  of  life ;  which  fact  is  finely  hit  off  in  the  subjoined 
morsels  of  genuine  bosh  and  wit :  — 

"  Our  friend,  David  Barker,  Esq.,"  says  an  Eastern  paper, 
"  who  has  produced  some  of  the  best  poetry  ever  written  by  a 
Maine  bard,  pleased  at  a  little  incident  that  happened  to  his 
family  (the  first  occurrence  of  the  kind),  gives  vent  to  his  feel- 
ings in  the  following  imaginative  piece :  "  — 

"mt  child's  oeigin. 

"  One  night,  as  old  St.  Peter  slept, 
He   left  the  door  of  heaven  ajar, 
When  through  a  little  angel  crept, 
And  came  down  with  a  falling  star. 


WOMAN,    LOVE,  AND   MARRIAGE.  257 

"  One  summer,  as  the  blessed  beams 

Of  morn  approached,  my  blushing  bride 
Awakened  from  some  pleasing  dreams, 
And  found  that  angel  by  her  side. 

"  God  grant  but  this  —  I  ask  no  more  — 
That  when  he  leaves  this  world  of  pain, 
He'll  wing  his  way  to  that  bright  shore, 
And  find  the  door  of  heaven  again." 

Whereupon  some  fellow  of  the  practical  sort,  and  without 
any  imagination,  and  not  possessing  the  "  divine  afflatus," 
attempts  to  destroy  the  little  illusion  of  David,  as  follows  :  — 

"  st.  peter's  reply. 

*•  Full  eighteen  hundred  years  or  more 
I've  kept  my  gate  securely  tyled, 
There  was  no  '  little  angel '  strayed, 
Nor  one  been  missing  all  the  while. 

"  I  did  not  sleep,  as  you  supposed, 
Nor  left  the  door  of  heaven  ajar, 
Nor  has  a  '  little  angel '  left 

And  gone  down  with  a  falling  star. 

"  Go  ask  that  '  blushing  bride,'  and  see 
If  she  don't  frankly  own  and  say 
That  when  she  found  that  angel  babe, 
She  found  it  by  the  good  old  way. 

*'  God  grant  but  this  —  I  ask  no  more  — 
That  should  your  number  still  enlarge, 
That  you  will  not  do  as  before, 
And  lay  it  to  old  Peter's  charge." 


258  WOMAN,   LOFE,   AND  MARRIAGE. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

A  friend  hands  the  following  squib,  in  reference  to  the 
members  of  the  strong-minded  sisterhood :  — 

11  When  lovely  woman  stoops  to  folly, 
And  finds  too  late  that  men  betray, 
She  has  a  remedy  that's  jolly, 
And  she  must  take  it  in  this  way : 

"  Just  let  her  purchase  a  revolver, 
And  load  it  with  the  greatest  care 
And  the  strong-minded  will  absolve  her, 
Jf  she  goes  shooting  then  and  there  ! " 

And  so  would  the  writer  —  provided  said  revolver  was  not 
pointed  at  some  male  victim,  but  toward  her  mother's  only 
daughter — provided  that  mother's  daughter  was  sane,  and  not 
possessed  of  the  devil,  horns,  hoofs  and  all,  as  well  as  of  some 
disease. 

They  make  a  great  mistake  who  imagine  that  when  backs  are 
clothed,  shelter  afforded,  and  stomachs  supplied,  the  whole 
duty  of  man  toward  woman  is  accomplished  ;  for  it  happens 
that  souls,  hearts,  affections,  need  care  and  feeding  as  well ;  and 
that  there  are  mental,  social,  moral,  religious  and  esthetic 
appetites  to  be  appeased,  even  more  than  those  of  mere 
physique. 

For  a  sober  man  to  get  angry  at  a  woman  shows  a  weakness 
forthwith  to  be  corrected.  It  is  seldom,  if  ever  justifiable,  and 
causes  a  great  deal  of  chronic  grief  and  trouble.  Woman's 
temper,  on  the  contrary,  is  something  over  which,  by  reason 
of  her  very  sex,  she  has  not  always  full  control ;  hence  husbands 
who  do  not  want  their  firesides  a  continual  war-camp  should 
never  allow  temper  to  get  the  upper  hand  ;  if  they  do,  there  will 
be  a  perpetual  wreck  of  saucers  and  a  crash  of  plates,  instead 
of  peace  and  quietude.     He  should  always  keep  cool  when  her 


WOMAX,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  259 

blood  is  up  —  that  is,  -when  the  mysteries  of  her  being  craze  her, 
and  make  her  say  and  do  things  strange  and  wilful.  She  is  to 
be  pitied  then,  not  blamed  and  foolishly  quarrelled  with. 
Forbear !  It  will  pay !  and  above  all  never  bother  a  woman 
when  she  is  working,  —  and  especially  when  knitting  feet  for 
little  stockings!     She  will  thank  him  for  it  —  some  day. 

Those  who  love  should  not  forget,  as  they  do,  wives  as  well 
as  husbands,  that  there  are  times  when  absolute  solitude  and 
let-alone-ness  is  a  great  blessing,  and  when  either  his,  or  hers, 
or  even  an  angel's  presence  is  irksome,  anno}"ing,  and  we  would 
give  half  the  world  to  be  unmolested  even  for  one  single  hour. 
Kisses,  fondlings,  caresses,  embraces,  are  dear  and  exquisite 
delights  —  in  their  proper  time  and  place  ;  but  even  these  may 
be  inopportune,  —  especially  when  a  man  is  bowed  down  by 
some  overwhelming  trouble,  some  sudden  and  terrible  up-burst 
of  misfortune  ;  and  when  a  woman  is  passing  along  some  of  the 
dark  crypts  and  corridors  of  mystery,  while  her  soul  is  searching 
for  something  rare  and  hard  to  find,  to  incarnate  in  her  baby's 
soul. 

People  should  heed  this,  else  both  parties  are  liable  to  get  the 
matrimonial  ague,  —  a  disease  very  prevalent  in  these  days,  and 
wherewith  many  shake  off  the  marriage  tie  !  ' 

If  a  husband  would  but  once  consider  what  a  woman  has  to 
go  through,  —  the  unutterable,  racking,  tearing,  fearful  agonies 
of  childbirth,  —  he  would  never  do  aught  to  render  her  unhappy  ; 
while  as  for  the  unmarried  villain  who  brings  an  innocent  girl 
to  that  pass,  and  then  refuses  to  right  her,  or  who  deserts  her 
then,  when  she  has  proved  her  love  and  devotion  to  him,  hell, 
if  there  be  one,  has  no  place  too  hot  for  him  to  be  consigned 
to  —  for  quite  a  spell  —  in  summer  time  too — down  below, 
and  —  well,  enough  on  that  point,  except  to  say  that  no  greater 
wretch  lives,  save  only  such  as  thrive  by  child-murder,  and  no 
punishment  can  be  too  great  for  such  a  wretch,  or  any  one  else 
who  dares  to  thwart  God's  purposes  by  putting  out  the  eyes  of 
an  immortal  being,  and  keeping  a  human  soul  out  of  the  world. 
Murder  of  an  adult  is  awful,  but  the  passionless  slaying  of  an 
unborn  child  is  a  deed  blacker  than  ever  yet  was  forged  by 


?60  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND    MARRIAGE, 

devil  brains  in  the  deepest  pit  of  Pandemonium.  Just  think  of 
a  puny  wretch  shaking  his  fist  in  God's  face,  by  strangling  a 
new-born  baby,  and  saying  to  Deity,  "  Thus  do  I  spoil  thy 
labor  and  hurl  etei-nal  defiance  in  thy  face  !  " 

But  there  are  those  in  the  world  who  persuade  themselves 
that  the  sin  of  child-murder,  before  birth,  is  a  venial  one. 
But  these  people- must  stand  before  the  Infinite  —  ay!  before 
their  own  consciences,  —  over  there  —  beyond  the  darkly-rolling 
river,  and  will  meet  the  pale,  phantom  train  of  victims  of  those 
"harmless  murders,"  —  for  every  one  of  them,  even  if  slain 
eight  months  and  twenty-nine  days  before  the  due  season  of  its 
birth,  IS  A  HUMAN  BEING,  —  its  destruction  Murder !  —  will 
just  as  surely  be  there  to  fling  back  the  foul  deed  upon  its 
slayer,  as  that  Eternal  Justice  rules  and  reigns  !  This  is  God's 
Eternal  Law ! 

Some  while  ago  the  present  author,  in  a  previous  work, 
quoted  the  essence  of  Madame  George  Sands'  (in  "  Consuelo") 
phillipic  against,  —  not  marriage,  but  the  method  of  its  cele- 
bration ;  to  the  effect  that  hearts  that  love  need  no  rite  or  ring 
to  bind.  That  opinion  will  not  appear  in  the  next  edition  of  the 
book  containing  it,  for  although  it  is  in  some  sense  true,  yet 
society  has  rights,  as  well  as  individuals,  which,  taking  pi'ece- 
dence  of  these  latter,  are,  for  the  good  of  the  consolidarity, 
bound  to  be  respected  ;  and  no  marriage  is  really  such  if  these 
saving  rules  are  not  fairly,  squarely,  and  openby  complied  with. 

If  a  man  or  woman  takes  advantage  of  a  lapse  or  legal  quib- 
ble, it  shows  them  to  be  dishonest  at  heart,  and  that  they  have 
no  intention  to  be  bound  by  the  mock  ceremonial  the}*-  have 
gone  through ;  nor  any  respect  for  the  divine  relation  they  so 
outrageously  burlesque.  "  Mecliumistic "  marriages;  "■pas- 
sional-attraction "  marriages ;  or  any  other  performance  of  the 
rite  aside  from  such  as  general  society  has,  of  its  own  free 
choice,  established  and  ordained.  As  to  the  numerous  spirit- 
ualistic marriages,  —  which  ignore  all  license  and  publicity,  — 
they  are  immoral,  and  therefore  void,  and  to  be  held  in  even 
deeper  abhorrence  and   contempt  than  the  shameless  liaisons 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  261 

which  disgrace  our  cities,  and  dot  the  entire  land  with  plague 
spots  and  leprosy. 

Marriage  was  not  made  for  man  so  much  as  man  was  made 
for  marriage,  because  in  it  only  can  he  be  very  man  ;  but  outside  of 
it  he  is  but  an  apprentice  thereto,  just  as  a  woman  falls  short  of 
fulfilling  her  lot  until  inside  of  marriage  she  has  known  the 
deathless  love  of  }Toung,  and  felt  the  milk  pains  tugging  at  the 
gate  of  her  soul  to  let  in  new  floods  of  glory  from  God  in  the 
eternal  heavens. 

The  holy  desire  for  it  you  may  not  repress,  you  must  not  stifle, 
you  shall  not  impede,  restrict,  or  hinder  under  heavy  penalties 
exactable  hereafter  in  other  worlds  than  this.  No  matter  how, 
in  view  of  special  interests,  such  judgment  may  oppose  it  in  a 
given  case ;  to  do  it  is  wrong,  and  all  the  deeper,  if  the  hearts 
concerned  are  loving  ones,  and  their  happiness  demands  it.  It 
is  the  voice  of  God  from  the  deeps  of  human  nature,  and  ought 
always  to  be  listened  to  and  obeyed  ;  while  he  or  she  who  pass 
willingly  into  celibate  graves  disobey  the  highest  command 
of  the  Eternal  One. 

As  to  who  shall,  or  who  shall  not,  perform  the  rite,  there  is  a 
wide  difference  of  opinion.  Such  persons  as  merely  take  each 
other  without  a  legal  or  religious  form  are  faulty,  and  look  on 
marriage  as  a  limited  partnership.  They  are  but "  respectable  " 
social  brigands  ;  for  if  t\xej  refuse  to  be  governed  by,  and  com- 
ply with,  the  laws  and  courtesies  society  has  established  in  be- 
half of  its  own  life  and  order,  they  are  dishonest  at  heart,  and 
have  no  right  to  the  respect  of  civilized  people. 

The  following  letter  has  been  kindly  furnished  us  by  a 
friend,  who,  having  had  deep  experiences  himself,  has  watched 
the  growth  of  these  pages  from  day  to  day.  It  is  one  of  a 
series  of  letters  which  resulted  in  one  of  the  happiest  marital 
unions  that  ever  blessed  two  honest  souls  who  dared  to  win 
each  other  by  open  avowals  of  a  sin-stained  past,  instead  of 
the  senseless  and  fatal  deceptions  which  lead  so  often  to  mar- 
riages, which,  built  as  they  are,  upon  the  sands,  have  so  sudden 
and  such  fearful  tumblings.  See !  arise,  like  a  Phcenix  from 
the  ashes,  a.  soul,  as  the  baptismal  of  confession  slowly  but 


262  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

surely  washes  away  the  grime  of  error  and  sin — word  by  word, 
torn  from  the  dark  but  not  forgotten  past,  out  it  comes,  and  a 
soul  that  dared  be  true  stands  saved  before  you. 

"  Dear  Sir  :  ....  If  I  failed  to  make  myself 
understood  in  my  former  answer,  this  shall  be  more  explicit. 
And,  first,  let  me  drop  all  cold  formalities,  for  a  letter  like 
yours,  from  a  heart  to  a  heart,  must  be  answered  by  a  heart. 

"  You  offer  me  sympathy,  what  I  prize  more  than  all  the 
world  beside,  —  now  that  I  am  desole,  —  for  which  I  have 
searched  in  vain  all  my  life ;  and,  by  my  own  soul,  I  know 
yours  is  as  true  as  love  and  God  can  make  it.  I  have  felt  the 
clasping  of  the  arms  of  one  whom  I  loved.  Yet  how  my  heart 
quivers  as  I  kiss  your  pictured  face  ;  but  I  do  not  love  you,  or, 
at  least,  as  I  must  before  I  am  anything  more  to  you  than  I  am 
now,  unseen,  as  we  both  are,  to  each  other.  Before  I  could 
give  my  heart  to  3-011  entirely,  you  must  become  so  dear  that 
no  pain  can  touch  your  soul  or  being  that  would  not  rack  my 
own,  that  your  life,  your  happiness  can  at  any  moment  com- 
mand the  sacrifice  of  mine  ;  no  joy  in  life  in  which  you  do  not 
share,  and  fire-walled  hell  better  with  your  presence,  than 
golden-gated  paradise  without. 

"  You  say  you  do  not  care  about  my  past.  I  could  not  con- 
ceal it  from  you  and  be  myself;  and,  when  you  know  all,  should 
you  then  say  'It  cannot  be,'  I  will  say,  God  bless  yon,  for  you 
must  be  right. 

"  I  shudder  when  I  look  into  the  past,  for  a  love,  that  seemed 
almost  divine,  lies  there  dead  and  buried  so  deep  that  it  cannot 
be  resurrected  ;  yet,  between  me  and  every  hope  of  the  future 
its  hideous  ghost  forever  rises  ;  in  life  and  death  'twill  be  graven 
on  the  tablets  of  my  heart  in  characters  that  I  fear  can  never 
be  effaced.  Let  me  tell  you  in  the  briefest  possible  space :  at 
an  early  age  I  became  acquainted  with  a  man  who  claimed  to 
believe,  in  regard  to  marriage,  what  you  and  I  and  society  do 
not  believe.  We  pledged  ourselves  in  secret ;  and,  for  more 
than  two  years,  I  sustained  the  relation  of  a  wife  without  the 
name.     It  did  not  satisfy  me;  but  it  was  his  wish,  and  I  yielded 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  263 

trustingly  jret  timidly.  At  the  end  of  that  time  came  desertion, 
as  I  might  have  expected.  But  for  years  I  could  not,  would 
not  see  his  baseness,  clung  fondly  to  his  memory  until  I  re- 
ceived positive  proof  of  his  moral  bankruptcy.  Then  love 
died  a  sudden  but  violent  death,  for  I  could  not  love  where  I 
could  not  esteem.  Self-reproach  drove  me  almost  to  the  verge 
of  madness.  If  there  had  been  left  anything  worthy  of  regard, 
I  could  have  borne  it  far  better.  You  know  the  world  does  not 
deal  lightly  with  such,  and  my  case  certainly  has  not  been  an 
exception.  Fifteen  years  have  passed  by,  and  no  word  of  ex- 
planation have  I  ever  before  uttered.  If  the  sin  was  mine,  so 
was  the  suffering,  and  I  allowed  no  one  to  question  me.  But 
this  has  forever  barred  me  from  that  love  which  alone  can  make 
me  happy.  Knowing  all,  as  you  now  do,  I  am  thine,  or  still 
the  child  of  fate,  unloved,  yet  patient  with  God's  help." 

Now,  what  should  be  done  with  the  thing  that  dares  to  call 
itself  a  man,  yet  does  a  deed  like  that?  Lure  an  innocent  girl 
to  ruin  !  —  thank  God,  he  failed  !  —  but  tried  to,  under  the  plea 
of  heavenly  marriage,  without  a  ceremonial,  being  just  as  good 
as  the  open,  legal  rite,  and  then  claims  kindred  with  honest  and 
honorable  men  !  Bah !  the  chain-gang  and  State-  prisons  hold 
scores  of  far  more  worttry  beings  ;  and  yet  this  very  system  of 
moral  ruin  is,  in  these  days,  held  up  as  the  one  to  reform 
society.  "Were  all  the  unthinking  victims  of  such  sophistry  as 
strong  and  self-helpful  as  was  the  writer  of  that  letter,  not  so 
much  harm  would  come  ;  but  alas  !  where  one  like  her  is  saved, 
five  hundred  sink  to  irremediable  ruin  ! 

What  wedded  people,  and  especially  wedded  talent  or  genius, 
on  the  male  part,  and  every  woman,  having  the  least  refinement, 
needs,  is  patience  and  forbearance.  A  woman  cannot  expect 
her  talented  husband  to  be  at  all  times  in  the  honeyed  mood  ; 
for,  if  he  have  a  strong,  original  brain,  to  be  always  on  a  dead 
level,  like  a  machine,  is  utterly  out  of  the  question.  God  never 
gives !  He  always  sells,  and  the  price  of  mental  power, 
genius,  is  periodical  wretchedness  too  vast  and  acute  to  be 
understood  easily  by  other  than  the  sufferer,  who,  at  such  times. 


264  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

just  like  a  •woman  at  peculiar  epochs,  is  as  full  of  quirks,  turns, 
caprices  and  unevennesses  of  conduct  and  character  as  an  egg  is 
full  of  meat.  God  pity  all  such  !  for  the  price  they  have  to  pay 
for  what  of  power  is  vouchsafed  them  is  fearful  indeed  !  Wives 
should  try  to  allow  something  on  that  score  ;  and  husbands  try 
to  be  as  little  offish,  angular  and  disagreeable  as  possible. 
Reverse  the  cases,  and  the  same  laws  obtain,  with  this  addition, 
that  the  gifted  wife  has  the  same  terrible  ordeal  to  go  through, 
and  the  same  dreadful  price  to  pay,  besides  the  earthquakes  and 
periodical  upheavals  incident  to  her  sex.  However  much  may 
be  done  on  both  sides  or  either,  to  mitigate  the  evils  of  organ- 
ization, by  rules  of  art, — determined  and  persistent  effort  to 
overcome  and  subdue  these  idiosyncrasies,  with  mental  and 
moral  exercise  persisted  in,  will,  in  time,  produce  chemico-vital 
and  dynamic  constitutional  changes  quite  favorable  to  some- 
thing like  self-equipoise,  if  not  to  radical  out  and  out  sainthood, 
—  which  no  reasonable  person  can  expect ;  or  if  they  do,  will 
speedily  undergo  the  process  of  disenchantment  in  that  regard. 

Such  couples,  —  and  they  abound,  —  where  one  party  is  all 
brains,  and  the  other  innocent  of  too  great  weight  thereof,  are 
apt  to  lead  zigzag  lives,  and  run  to  seasons  of  continence  and 
its  exhaustive  opposites,  on  the  principle  of  orbital  periodicity ; 
the  consequence  of  which  is,  some  one  is  unmanned,  unwomaned, 
exhausted,  demoralized,  physically,  mentally,  morally ;  and, 
by  and  by  chronic  cursedness  of  temper  sets  in,  the  moral  and 
intellectual  backbone  is  broken,  or  permanently  shaken,  at 
the  least,  self-reliant  personality  and  mental  stamina,  genuine 
fixedness  of  mind  and  purpose  wax  regularly,  almost  sj-ste- 
matically  less,  to  say  nothing  on  the  score  of  morals,  secret  or 
open. 

The  woman  suffers  additionally  in  such  cases,  and  shows  it 
unmistakably  in  person,  gait,  manner,  impatience,  the  sulks, 
blues,  querulousness  and  the  fidgets  ;  besides  a  whole  catalogue 
of  head,  back,  breast  and  heart  aches,  pains,  qualms  —  except 
of  conscience  !  —  caprices,  whims,  longings,  palpitations,  and  a 
numerous  list  of  ills  beside.  If  there  were  perfect  mutuality 
and  response,  even  in  these  morbidities,  it  would  not  be  so  bad, 


WOMAN,   LOVE)   AND   MARRIAGE.  265 

but  there  is  not ;  for  when  one  party  is  all  right  and  straight, 
the  other  is  sure  to  be  all  wrong  and  crooked.  When  she  is 
agreeable,  he  is  not ;  and  when  he  is  a  lamb,  she  is  apt  to  be 
tigress  like  ;  the  consequence  of  which  is  a  continual  odor  of 
sulphur,  and  sulphur  engenders  dislike,  and  that  is  cousin- 
german  to  the  pit  itself :  — 

There  is  no  hate  like  love  to  hatred  turned; 
Hell  hath  no  gorgon  like  a  love  when  spurned ! 

and  chemical  exhaustion  is  the  cause  of  a  great  deal  of  spurn- 
ing, refusals,  entreatings,  "  I  wont's,"  and  "  damn  you's"  by 
reason  of  the  chronic  passional  inflammation  begotten  of  too 
great  devotion  at  the  shrine  of  the  priapic  god,  solely  and 
alone. 

But  suppose  patience  to  be  a  virtue  already  cultivated,  still 
it  is  certain  that  even  that  of  an  arch-seraph  will  wear  out  and 
become  non  est  under  incessant  friction,  and  none  so  bad  as 
passion  ;  and  one  o^he  parties  is  sure  to  fly  off  at  a  tangent, 
and  unless  love  calls  the  wanderer  back,  is  very  likely  to  stay 
flown.  Here  we  may  remark,  en  passant,  that  a  great  many 
men,  and  some  women,  are  utterly  senseless  and  stupid,  judg- 
ing with  what  nonchalant  ease  they  go  to  work  to  destroy  a 
husband's  or  a  wife's  true  love,  —  to  kill  it  outright  and  stone 
dead,  by  some  insensate  caprice,  whim,  or  folly,  of  which  they 
are  fully  aware  at  the  time,  yet  insist  upon  doing  till  affection 
is  strangled,  love  leaves  forever,  and  two  lives  are  utterly 
blasted  and  ruined  ;  and  the  prime  cause,  nine  times  in  ten,  is 
nothing  else  than  senseless  conduct  on  the  husband's  part  — 
generally  —  but  not  always. 

A  singular  thing  may  be  mentioned  here,  which  is,  that  per- 
sons wholly  free  from  abuses  of  the  love-nature,  in  all  respects, 
are  proof  against  malaria  to  a  wonderful  degree  ;  and  if  attacked, 
recover  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  whether  the  decimating  scourge 
be  cholera,  yellow  fever,  ague  or  the  pustular  diseases  !  They 
will  rise  above  them  victoriously  with  constitutions  not  at  all  im- 
paired ;  whereas  those  of  contrary  habits  of  life  are  swept  away 


266  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

by  thousands,  and  the  few  who  do  recover,  ever  afterward  plod 
through  life  with  shattered  health  and  disordered  stomachs, 
lungs,  kidneys,  liver  or  nerves  ;  and  frequently  the  entire  system 
remains  but  a  wreck  of  what  it  once  was,  and  might  have  been 
still,  but  for  their  neglect  of  that  wise  old  saw  which  declares 
that  "  wilful  waste  makes  woful  want ! "  More  than  that,  — 
the  debauchee  develops  or  engenders  a  condition  of  body  which 
renders  that  body  the  natural  breeding  ground  and  habitat,  not 
only  of  the  known  four  and  twenty  entozoic  parasites  which 
infest  and  feed  upon  human  vitals  while  the  victims  still  live, 
but  of  numerous  others  also,  peculiar  only  to  such  as  are  drained 
of  vital  force  through  excess  or  perversion  ;  besides  some  others 
still,  which  ordinarily  do  not  come  to  active  life  till  after  death 
and  burial. 

Lowenbeck  tells  of  an  insect  seen  with  the  microscope,  of 
which  twenty-seven  would  only  equal  a  mite.  Insects  of  various 
kinds  may  be  seen  in  the  cavities  of  a  common  grain  of  sand. 
Mould  is  a  forest  of  beautiful  trees,  with  the  branches,  leaves, 
flowers  and  fruit.  Butterflies  are  fully-feathered.  Hairs  are 
hollow  tubes.  The  surface  of  our  bodies  is  covered  with  scales 
like  fish ;  a  single  grain  of  sand  would  cover  one  hundred  and 
fifty  of  these  scales,  and  yet  a  single  scale  covers  five  hundred 
pores.  Through  these  narrow  openings  the  sweat  forces  itself  like 
water  through  a  sieve.  The  mites  make  five  hundred  steps  a 
second.  Each  drop  of  stagnant  water  contains  a  world  of  ani- 
mated beings,  swimming  with  as  much  liberty  as  whales  in  the 
sea.  Each  leaf  has  a  colony  of  insects  grazing  on  it,  like  oxen 
on  a  meadow. 

The  life  of  man  overtops  that  of  all  else  living  when  norirrl 
and  true  ;  and  all  things  yield  life  that  man  may  continue  king 
of  the  world ;  but  for  this  very  reason,  when  other  forms  of  life 
have  a  chance  to  prey  on  him,  they  rush  to  the  feast  with  ter- 
rible earnestness  and  avidity.  Bedbugs,  mosquitoes,  flies, —  all 
leave  other  prey  to  fasten  on  man  ;  and  the  alligators  in  the 
bayous,  and  tigers  in  the  jungle,  alike  forsake  all  other  prey  to 
fasten  upon  the  royal  king,  man,  when  chance  or  accident 
throws  their  common  enemy  within  their  reach ;  because  he  lives 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  267 

on  higher  food,  and  develops  finer  juices  ;  wherefore  ho  is  a  great 
deal  better  eating,  and  his  flesh  —  to  them  —  a  great  deal 
sweeter.  Fancy  an  old  tiger  or  crocodile  sending  out  their 
cards  of  invitation  to  their  respective  friends,  with  "A  fine 
old  philosopher,  raw.  Sun-broiled  young  lady.  Fresh  baby.  A 
nice  young  wife,  etc.,  etc."     Are  there  any  human  alligators? 

Still  another  dreadful  fact.  The  debauchee,  having  become  ex- 
hausted and  demagnetic,  affords  the  electric  and  other  conditions 
exactly  adapted,  in  the  case  of  the  male,  to  engender  within  the 
reinal  system  of  glands,  uncountable  billions  of  an  infinitely  mi- 
nute microscopical  animalculae,  —  the  acari  spermatid,  —  which, 
originating  in  ganglionic  centres,  finally  swarm  in  dreadful  mul- 
titudes throughout  the  body ;  living  upon  the  nervous  life  of 
the  victim,  inducing  a  chronic  coldness  of  the  cuticular  sur- 
face, and  a  quenchless  inflammation  in  the  special  organic  struc- 
tures mainly  involved,  and  including  every  department  and 
tissue  thereof.  The  same  type,  but  a  variation  from  that  self- 
same acarus,  finds  life  and  baleful  action  in  the  body  of  the 
female  debauchee,  —  but,  strange  to  say,  much  more  fre- 
quently in  wives  than  in  open  courtesans! — by  reason  of  a 
more  frequent  and  liberal  use  of  the  bath  —  in  every  respect 
whatever. 

In  both  cases  they  occasion  by  their  presence  an  almost 
unbearable  paroxysmal  furore,  occurring  with  remarkable  pre- 
cision in  regular  periods. 

It  is  needless  to  state  that,  even  as  mosquitoes  will  drive  the 
holiest  saint  to  absolute  madness  and  blasphemous  expressions, 
—  for  the  writer  once  actually  heard  a  very  reverend  minister 
of  the  gospel  distinctly  say  "  God  damn,"  under  the  impelling 
influence  of  a  mosquito  cloud  in  a  Louisiana  swamp,  —  even  so 
these  acari,  and  not  the  fall  of  Adam,  are  responsible  for  a  great 
many  breakages  of  the  seventh  commandment,  albeit  proof 
of  the  same  is  not  yet  valid  in  our  courts.  This  form  of 
unsuspected  disease  is  not  uncommon  ;  and  is  transmissible 
through  contact,  just  as  is  the  itch,  which  is  also  an  animal- 
cular  disease. 

Thousands,  not  to  say  millions,  have  wondered  why  Napoleon 


268  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE. 

III.  —  one  of  the  ablest  men  on  earth  —  so  suddenly  sunk  to 
almost  civil  and  military  imbecility  combined,  shortly  after  the 
last  plebiscitum,  firmly  establishing  him  and  his  dynasty  on  the 
throne  of  France  ;  and  immediately  preceding  the  awful  Franco- 
Prussian,  and  subsequent  Communal  wars.  But  the  true  reasons 
are  clear  and  plain  to  the  eye  of  science.  He  had  been  in 
nearly  every  sense  a  ban  vivant  and  unscrupulous  debauchee ; 
and,  despite  his  immense  brain  and  knowledge,  a  very  foolish 
one  at  that ;  because  from  his  fifteenth  year  he  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  give  a  loose  rein  to  every  appetite  and  passion,  except 
solitary  vice,  whose  demoralizing  power  is  worse  and  greater 
than  all  the  rest  combined.  Of  that  he  was  free.  His  consti- 
tution was  strong  as  chilled  iron,  just  like  Verhuiel's,  his 
father's,  before  him  ;  else  his  excesses  had  been  utterly  ruinous 
long  before  his  final  fall.  As  it  was,  he  withstood  the  six  rav- 
ages of  wine,  women,  absynthe,  the  pope,  the  flesh  and  the  devil, 
till  the  ver}r  last  moment.  The  truth  is,  that  Napoleon's  body 
was  a  swarming  mass,  first  of  semi-latent,  semi-active  feculence, 
whereof  syphilis  was  an  element ;  and  secondly,  of  myriad 
hosts  of  minute  animalculse,  —  nervous  parasites,  abounding  in 
bones,  joints,  muscles,  skin,  liver,  spleen,  heart,  lungs,  brain, — 
all  over,  and  eveiywhere,  —  creatures  so  small  that  Lowenbeck's 
mites  are  elephants  in  comparison !  yet  so  vety  voracious  and 
ravenous  that,  give  them  time,  and  they  will  destroy  the 
strongest,  proudest,  largest  man  that  ever  breathed  on  earth, 
provided  that  man  is  magnetically  and  electrically  demoralized, 
as  Napoleon  was  ;  for  it  is  only  in  such  bodies  they  can  live  or 
thrive  at  all.  Vultures  ai-e  only  attracted  by  carrion.  Let  it 
not  be  forgotten  that  children  inherit  the  evils  of  their  parents  ; 
nor  that  Bonaparte  III.  came  into  this  world  doubly-cursed  in  his 
tendencies,  longings,  and  insatiable  thirsts  and  appetites ;  and 
then  the  reader  will  see  good  causes  for  the  to  him  disastrous, 
to  man  beneficial  results  that  followed  on  the  path  of  these 
tiny  little  worms. 

During  the  Franco-Prussian  war,  a  correspondent  of  the  New 
York  Tribune  wrote  to  the  effect  that  Napoleon's  previous  ill- 
health  clung  to  him  still,  and  then  gave  the  following  account 


WOMAK,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  269 

of  one  form  of  the  malady  that  afflicted  him,  —  all  of  which 
were  caused,  primarily,  by  his  excesses,  and  secondarily,  by  the 
parasites  alluded  to.  Said  the  correspondent,  speaking  of  an 
examination  of  the  case,  by  the  ablest  physicians  on  the 
globe :  — 

"  This  analysis  is  the  work  of  a  distinguished  Parisian  physician,  who 
has  skilfully  grouped  the  scattered  details,  and  by  scientific  deduction  has 
succeeded  in  producing  a  diagnosis,  the  truth  of  which  has  startled  the  pro- 
foundly affected  Imperialists :  — 

"  The  mother  of  Napoleon  III.,  Hortense  de  Beauharnais,  died  of  an  in- 
ternal cancer,  and  from  her  the  Emperor  received  this  sad  heritage.  She 
was  of  a  lymphatico-nervous  temperament,  and  it  is  well  known  that  this 
temperament  becomes  the  source  of  serious  maladies,  especially  when 
excesses  of  various  kinds  have  in  the  course  of  life  enfeebled  the  constitu- 
tion. The  physical  sufferings  of  the  Emperor  date  from  an  early  period. 
Before  the  coup  d'etat  of  '51  they  had  assumed  an  alarming  character,  and 
had  taken  the  form  of  fits,  more  or  less  violent,  of  sciatical  neuralgia, 
whose  origin  was  attributed,  not  without  cause,  to  irritation  of  the  spine. 
Rumors  circulated  among  the  more  intimate  personal  attendants  and 
friends  of  Prince  Louis,  that  these  attacks  manifested  themselves  some- 
times in  a  manner  to  cause  the  greatest  uneasiness,  leaving  a  general  pros- 
tration of  the  nervous  system  as  the  result.  After  the  coup  d'etat  these 
indications  became  still  more  painful,  and  in  1852,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
visit  of  Napoleon  to  the  Grand-Duchess  of  Baden,  during  the  night  which 
preceded  a  review,  he  was  seized  with  a  neuralgic  attack,  which  rendered 
impossible  the  least  movement  of  his  limbs,  and  would  necessarily  have 
prevented  his  appearance  at  the  review.  Not  wishing  to  disturb  any  one 
in  the  palace,  nor  to  miss  the  review,  and  not  even  desiring  to  inform  his 
attendants  of  his  sufferings,  he  determined  to  remove  them  without  extra- 
neous help.  Against  these  attacks  he  had  often  employed  with  success  a 
blister  and  a  running  cauterization  along  the  line  of  the  affected  nerve. 
He  now  prepared  a  blister  in  the  following  fashion :  He  lighted  a  wax  can- 
dle, and  applied  the  burning  flame  all  along  the  suffering  nerve,  sparing  him- 
self so  little  that  at  several  places  the  flesh  was  painfully  burned.  The 
remedy  had  the  desired  result,  and  the  next  day,  notwithstanding  the  pain 
from  the  burns,  he  mounted  his  horse  and  took  part  in  the  review. 

"But  a  time  arrived  when  blisters,  cauterizations,  and  other  remedies 
united,  produced  no  longer  any  effect.  Their  action  failed  before  the  force 
and  progress  of  the  malady.  Then  hydropathy  was  tried.  The  new  treat- 
ment succeeded  for  some  time,  and  delivered  the  patient  from  a  dyspepsia 
which  had  come  to  complicate  affairs.  This  relative  good  health  continued 
up  to  1860.     Until  then  no  appreciable  trace  of  disease  revealed  itself  in 


270  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

the  genito-urinary  organs,  beyond  the  fact  that  they  were  torpid  and 
required  sometimes  to  be  artificially  excited.  But  in  18G0  new  symptoms 
appeared,  and  concentrated  themselves  principally  on  this  point.  Some 
physicians  feared  the  development  of  diabetes ;  others,  the  stone  or  the 
gravel.  At  this  stage  the  illustrious  sufferer  was  sent  to  drink  the  waters 
of  Vichy. 

"A  serious  retention  of  urine  here  seized  him,  but  succumbed  to  numer- 
ous operations.  Violent  hemorrhages  nearly  always  followed  these  oper- 
ations, and  manifested  themselves  often  even  without  apparent  cause. 
These  attacks  greatly  enfeebled  the  Emperor's  constitution ;  the  operations 
were  sometimes  followed  by  syncope,  and  urethral  fever  declared  itself  and 
gave  way  only  under  arsenical  treatment.  At  this  moment  the  retention 
appears  to  be  fixed ;  the  catheter  is  frequently  necessary,  and  an  obstinate 
sleeplessness  often  troubles  the  patient,  with  occasional  painful  attacks  of 
hiccoughing. 

"After  a  serious  examination  of  the  diverse  manifestations  of  the  Em- 
peror's disease,  men  of  science  have  rejected  the  idea  of  any  rheumatic 
affection,  and  have  agreed  that  the  malady  is  a  distention  of  the  prostate 
gland  and  a  varicose  swelling  or  fungus  of  the  bladder.  This  disorder 
only  shows  itself  at  intervals,  increases  with  age,  and  is  aggravated  by 
moral  and  atmospheric  causes.  The  consequences  of  the  disease  are  very 
grave,  thus  :  all  diseases  of  the  genito-urinary  organs  —  the  stone  perhaps 
excepted  —  attack  the  brain,  that  is  to  say,  they  affect  the  moral  and  intel- 
lectual faculties. 

"  The  temper  of  the  patient  becomes  sombre,  suspicious,  peevish,  pu- 
sillanimous ;  men  and  things  appear  under  a  sinister  aspect ;  the  wfll  be- 
comes weak,  and  is  subject  to  the  most  contradictory  changes ;  a  project 
formed  is  immediately  abandoned  for  another  not  any  more  durable ;  a 
decision  is  hardly  ever  finally  and  frankly  made ;  there  are  always  mental 
reservations,  cunning  replaces  boldness,  a  feverish  irritation  takes  the 
place  of  calmness,  the  real  proportion  of  objects  and  events  are  exagger- 
ated, and  one  is  always  ready  to  employ  against  a  reed  the  force  necessary 
to  uproot  an  oak.  "When  a  man  has  been  afflicted  eight  years  by  a  fungus 
of  the  bladder,  whose  progress  his  physicians  have  been  unable  to  arrest, 
his  days  are  numbered.  After  eight  years  of  treatment  the  disease,  aggra- 
vated by  age,  is  nothing  more  than  a  series  of  relapses,  each  one  more 
serious  than  the  last,  and  of  intermissions  of  convalesence  each  one  less 
and  less  reassuring.  His  hour  will  come,  not  perhaps  to-morrow,  but  in  a 
day  not  far  distant." 

There's  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  the  war  between  France 
and  Prussia;  the  war  of  Parties  in  Spain;  the  war  between 
Spain  and  Cuba,  and  all  the  rest  growing  out  of  them,  originated 


TTOifAX,    LOVS,   AXD   MARRIAGE.  271 

in  identical  causes.  Napoleon,  we  know,  was  put  in  a  warlike 
mood  by  the  state  of  his  organic  viscera ;  while  all  the  world  is 
aware  that  there  would  have  been  no  war  had  there  been  no 
vacancy  of  the  Spanish  throne ;  there  would  have  been  no 
vacancy  of  that  throne  had  not  Isabella  been  turned  out  for 
amatoiy  and  passional  indecency,  which  the  Grandees  of  Spain 
could  not  and  would  not  endure  ;  she  would  not  have  been  thus 
indiscreet  in  her  amours,  had  she  not  been  diseased,  —  probably 
with  the  parasites  mentioned,  which  parasites  rendered  her  in 
certain  respects  completely  insane ;  and  she  took  Afarfori,  a 
soldier,  raised  him  to  the  highest  rank,  as  said  before,  —  and  lo  ! 
the  consequences,  —  almost  a  world  in  arms,  and  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  men  ruthlessly  slaughtered  !  Verily  there  is  a  con- 
cupiscent devil  abroad  in  the  world  ! 

One  of  the  greatest  preservatives  of  conjugal  love  and  its 
accompanying  happiness,  and  one  which  men  in  the  under  and 
middle  layers  of  modern  society  are  altogether  too  prone  to 
either  neglect  or  lose  sight  of  as  a  general  thing,  is  a  careful 
foresight  and  providence  for  the  future,  and  without  which  a 
great  many  couples  are  on  the  high  road  to  disagreements, 
which  gradually  unravel  the  chords  of  sympathy,  and  are  very 
likely  to  end  in  a  permanent  fracture  and  disseverance  of  the 
real  tie  between  them  ;  for  no  woman  with  common  sense  but 
will  shudder  at  the  dismal  prospect  of  an  unprovided  widowhood, 
which  may  be  hers  any  day  in  the  year,  from  a  myriad  of  seem- 
ingly fortuitous  circumstances,  wherewith  all  human  life  is  envi- 
roned. However  much  couples  may  cling  to  each  other  in  an 
external  observance  of  their  union,  they  will  cling  still  closer  if 
the  probability  of  future  penury  is  wholly  removed  ;  for,  say 
what  you  will,  one  of  the  prime  sources  of  very  great  trouble  of 
wedded  life  is  the  untamable  fear  and  dread  of  the  threatened 
visit  of  the  gorgon  want, —  an  invisible  character,  but  one  whose 
lash  is  felt  alike  on  soul,  spirit  and  body, —  for  he  is  the  uni- 
versal horror  of  the  whole  race  of  man,  and  is  guilty  of  more 
crimes,  and  has  tampered  successfully  with  the  honor,  integrity, 
peace,  welfare  and  virtue  of  more  human  souls,  than  any  other 


272  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

one  thing  beneath  the  smiling  heaven.  By  him  alone,  and 
single-handed,  more  men  have  become  thieves,  liars,  robbers, 
swindlers,  drunkards,  cheats,  gamblers,  forgers,  and  murderers, 
and  more  girls  have  bartered  off  their  purity,  more  wives  fall- 
en, than  under  the  influence  of  any  other  power  on  the  globe. 
Let  but  his  presence  be  keenly  felt  in  a  family,  and  there's  a 
chronic  trouble  in  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  otherwise  happy 
and  contented  household.  It  is  a  drop  of  bitter  gall  in  life's 
sweetest  cup  ;  a  veiled  horror  at  every  meal,  poisoning  each 
mouthful  taken,  and  mantling  every  brow  with  a  leaden  pall. 
Its  presence  is  a  perpetual  unrest ;  a  fever  which  unstrings 
every  muscle  of  mind  and  body  ;  or  a  freezing  breath  congealing 
every  spring  of  life  ;  and  all  the  more  if,  besides  the  parents, 
there  are  children  exposed  to  its  relentless  scourgings.  It  sug- 
gests robbery  to  the  impoverished  father,  and  whispers  dishonor 
to  mother  and  daughter  alike ;  while  under  its  lash  sons  forget 
themselves,  and  jails  and  poor-houses  flourish  apace.  It  delights 
in  thinning  churches  and  replenishing  brothels.  It  is  the  father 
of  crime,  the  instigator  of  all  sorts  of  wrong ;  the  patron  of 
wretchedness,  builder  of  state-prisons  ;  and  it  strews  the  floors 
of  hell  itself  with  the  haggard  forms  of  myriad  victims,  and 
stabs  love  dead  with  daggers  of  ice  !  Husbands,  husbands,  pro- 
vide for  the  future !  Wives,  wives,  learn  the  good  lesson — 
economy ! 

This  gorgon  can  be  banished  by  the  trying,  —  by  firm  reliance 
on  the  better  selfhood,  and  on  God,  the  far-off  yet  near-at-hand 
Supreme,  some  of  whose  ways  are  not  past  finding  out,  —  for  one 
of  them  is  to  help  him  who  tries  to  help  himself,  as  well  in  finan- 
cial as  in  any  and  every  other  sort  of  matter. 

If  God  tempers  the  wind  to  the  shorn  lamb,  you  may  depend 
that  the  lamb  himself  is  by  no  means  idle,  and  takes  most  ex- 
cellent care  not  to  leave  the  whole  business  to  the  Protector, 
for  his  lambship  has  an  abiding  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  good  grass 
and  well-cured  hay ;  and  as  for  clear  water,  why,  he  is  a  perfect 
connoisseur,  fully  comprehending  one  branch  of  chemistry,  and 
who  occupies  most  of  his  time  between  bucking,  running,  frisk- 
ing and  jumping  bouts,  in  converting  the  grass  and  hay  aforesaid 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  273 

into  excellent  mutton  cutlets,  layers  of  beautiful  white  fat  and 
sundry  pounds  of  good  white  fine  wool  for  winter  wear. 

If  we  earnestly  try  to  make  life  what  it  ought  to  be,  if  our 
hearts  are  truly  human,  we  can  nestle  closer  and  farther  in  the 
heart  of  God,  whom  bigot  fools  and  free-love  knaves  search  for 
in  vain,  and  deny  !  and  we  can  realize  a  deeper  and  strangely 
mystic,  but  gratifying  Providence,  altogether  above  and  beyond 
any  that  cold  and  icy  "  philosophy "  recognizes  or  material 
science  can  account  for.  And  when  the  soul  is  tensioned  up  and 
awake,  we  can  sense  the  play  of  the  divine  fingers,  feel  the 
Hand  upholding  us,  and  our  ears,  if  we  but  listen  well,  can 
catch  the  echoing  music  of  the  far-off  Heaven ;  but  then  it  is 
only  when  fierce  and  terrible  storms  have  swept  the  soul  with 
hurricanes  of  fire,  that  we  are  prepared  to  listen,  and  to  expect, 
therefore  receive  the  aid  of  that  lofty  Might,  which,  in  such 
tribulation  hours,  even  the  most  heady  and  sceptical  of  us  all 
are  compelled  to  reverence,  acknowledge  and  adore. 

He  alone,  and  no  power  beneath  Him,  can  supply  our  greatest 
needs,  give  us  courage  to  bear  up  against  the  heavy  pressure, 
and  to  face  the  cold  and  bitter  blasts  which  chill  and  freeze  the 
very  marrow  of  our  souls.  , 

The  writer  of  this  has  proved  God,  and  found  him  ever  true ! 
He  cannot  say  the  same  of  any  human  being,  save  his  mother. 
All  others,  when  weighed  in  the  scales  which  alone  adversity 
furnishes,  have  been  found  wanting^saye  only  in  the  case  of  two 
men  !  —  God  bless  and  prosper  them  !  —  Isaac  B.  Rich,  of  Boston, 
and  John  F.  Kapp,  of  Sunbury,  Pennsylvania,  the  only  two  on 
the  broad  earth  who  ever  did  the  writer  of  this  a  disinterested 
favor  in  his  hour  of  need.  Despair  and  death  had  long  since 
been  his  had  not  his  hopes  been  fast  anchored  in  the  Eternal 
Heart,  and  ruin  had  come  had  not  He  averted  it.  He  never 
distrusted  God  !  and  at  night,  throwing  himself  in  his  mother  — 
Nature's  —  sweet  arms,  and  reclining  his  head  on  God's  bosom, 
says  :  "  Parents,  protect  and  take  care  of  th}'  wayward  son,  for 
lo  !  are  not  all  the  philosophers,  critics,  editors,  and  other  sim- 
ulacra, together  with  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil,  against 
him,  spilling  his  drink,  and  soiling  his  food?    Protect  thou  him 


274  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

from  all  evil,  the  liars  and  the  lies ;  the  hatred,  malice,  and 
slander  of  the  weak  ones,  who  perhaps  know  no  better  !  "  And 
his  Father  and  Mother  hear  and  answer,  and  he  relies  on 
them  ! 

Well,  what  is  the  result?  Why,  as  a  general  thing  the 
Hidden  Hand  has  sustained  him  in  the  battle  against  fearful 
odds  and  deadly  foes  —  mainly  in  the  guise  of  love  and  friend- 
liness !  and  the  road  of  life  has  not  been  altogether  scoriae  or 
unpleasant ;  for  beautiful  spots  of  rare,  rich  greenery,  spangled 
with  many  a  daisy  eye,  have  gladdened  him  here  and  there  all 
the  way  along,  even  though  every  step  of  the  way  was  straight 
up-hill  and  against  the  wind  and  tide,  and  all  the  storms  blowing 
squarely  and  fairly  at  his  head  !  God,  after  all,  is  a  great 
power,  and  faith  in  him  is  a  perfectly  safe  and  sure  investment ! 

But,  to  resume  the  thread  of  thought.  Generally  accompany- 
ing poverty,  or  attendant  upon  the  fear  of  it,  and  which,  so  far 
as  the  perpetuity  of  domestic  love  is  concerned,  and  which  is  an 
equally  great  curse,  is  the  periodical  fits  of  right-down  anger, 
and  which  is  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception  in  most  families, 
but  especially  in  those  where  one  of  the  parties  to  the  marital 
compact  monopolizes  all  the  brains,  or  sets  out  to  do  so,  justly 
or  not.  No  man  likes  to  be  constantly  reminded  that  his  brains 
are  poorer  in  quantity  or  quality  than  those  of  his  wife,  even  if 
she  be  his  "better  half;"  and  but  few  women,  on  the  other 
hand,  can  brook  being  given  to  understand  that  all  she's  worth 
is  to  dress,  cook,  drudge,  and  replenish  the  earth,  by  stress  of 
unwilling  maternity  perhaps  ;  for  really  her  mission,  however 
poor  a  wife  she  may  be,  is  immensely  more  than  either  or  all 
these  combined  ;  and  if  one  of  those  perpetually  growling  hus- 
bands could  but  pass  a  year  or  two  away  from  woman's  charm- 
ing society,  or  dwell  among  females  of  the  genuine  barbaric 
tj'pe  and  order,  where  mere  sex  and  nursing  is  all  in  all,  so  far 
as  she  is  concerned  he  would,  undoubtedly,  very  soon  learn 
how  to  appreciate,  value,  and,  consequently,  how  to  treat  the 
woman  who,  whatever  may  be  her  minor  faults,  does  not  hesi- 
tate, for  his  sake,  to  constantly  sacrifice  herself  in  a  hundred 
ways,  and  who  runs  scores  of  risks  of  her  life,  and  health,  and 


TTOAfAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  275 

happiness,  to  be  a  wife  to  him,  and   gratif}-  the   man  of  her 
choice.     Think  of  this,  my  gay  man  ;  study  that,  0  woman  ! 

Fits   of   temper,  anger,  moodiness,  waywardness,  and  the 
glums,  are  all  foes  of  love  and  loving,  when  met  in  the  same 
spirit  for  which  and  the  fear  of  want  there  is  a  perfect  cure ; 
and    that   cure   lies  in  following  this  bit  of  advice  to  every 
married  man,  and  also  to  every  lover :  keep  tour  temper,  and 
get  tour  life  insured  !  for  a  paid-up  life-and-accident  policy 
in  a  family  is  a  perpetual  peace-maker,  joy-bringer,  pleasure- 
spreader,  hope-cultivator  !  —  a  bank  of  more  than  "  national " 
security !     It  is  an  ever-current,  never-protested  note ;   a  non- 
discounted   cheque  on  the  bank  of  affection  ;    a  buyer  of  the 
right  kind  of  well-seasoned  kisses,  and  the  tenderest  and  most 
meaning  embraces,  right  straight  from  the  heart ;  and,  lover  and 
husband,  pray  don't  forget  that  there's  a  mighty  sight  of  differ- 
ence between  the  kiss  or  embrace  of  a  woman  who,  when  she 
gives  either,  does  so  because  she  can't  help  it,  and  because  it 
does  her  good  to  lavish  her  love  upon  you  ;  and  that  of  another 
one  who,  when  she  condescends,  merely  does  so  for  form's  sake, 
and  because  it's  the  custom  of  marriage  land.     With  a  life- 
insurance  document  safe  in  the  bureau  drawer,  a  married  man 
has  Christmas,  St.  Patrick's  day  in  the  morning,  and  the  Fourth 
of  July  all  the  year  round  ;   besides  having  an  ever-present, 
never-lying  remembrancer  that  it  is  not  all  of  life  to  live  for 
self  alone,  nor  all  of  death  to  die  on  his  own  account ;    and 
that  bit  of  paper,  with  two  or  three  great  red  splotches  of  wax, 
and   half-a-dozen    spidery   looking   signatui'es,  is   much   more 
than  it  seems  to  be  ;   for  not  only  is  it  an  assurance  against 
want   in   the   times   to   come,  but  besides  is  an  unmistakable 
demonstration,  alike  patent  to  men,  angels,  and  God,  of  a  love 
grand,  pure,  sweet,  deep>  sincere  and  holy  ;  conjugal,  paternal, 
so  good,  so  trve,  making  all  so  glad  ;  a  proof  so  great  that  it 
actually  —  in   importance,   and   the   momentous   consequences 
hinging   upon  it — outweighs  any  other  single  thing  or  act  a 
man  can  possibly  do  by  way  of  proving  to  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren that  he  really  means,  as  well  as  says,  "7  love   you!" 
May  Heaven  eternally  bless  the  man  who  first   invented   life 


276  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE. 

insurance !  It  is  the  bounden  duty  of  any  man,  old  or  young, 
rich  or  poor,  dark  or  fair,  to  attend  to  this  first  prime  dut}'  of 
every  one  who  has  others  leaning  on  him  for  comfort  and  sup- 
port, because  there's  no  telling  how  soon  death  may  come,  or 
present  wealth  take  unto  itself  wings  and  fly  away. 

A  true  man,  if  single,  should  do  it  for  the  sake  of  those  he 
may  thereafter  join  his  life  with  ;  and  a  thoughtful  married  man 
would  as  soon  think  of  exposing  those  he  loves  to  the  pitiless 
storms  of  wintry  days,  naked,  barefoot,  and  ahungered  for  bread, 
as  to  risk,  in  these  days  of  financial  cataclyms,  and  monetary 
earthquakes,  their  chances  of  poverty,  and  gaunt,  grim  want, 
when  he  should  be  gathered  to  his  fathers,  and  gone  away  on 
the  breast  of  the  ether  to  his  last  and  far-off  home,  by  neg- 
lecting, even  for  a  single  day,  if,  in  his  power,  by  hook  or  by 
crook  to  do  it,  this  one  great  paramount  duty  of  duties,  su- 
preme above  all  others,  the  procurement,  first  of  a  life,  and 
then  of  an  accident  policy  of  insurance.  Again  we  say,  be- 
cause deeply  felt,  God  bless  him,  whoever  he  was,  who  first 
invented  life  insurance ! 


CHAPTER  XVHL 

A  lawyer  once  fell  in  love, —  during  an  honest  fit, —  and,  in 
the  exuberance  of  his  new  sensations —  both  of  them  —  indited 
an  Ode  to  Spring, —  instead  of  indicting  some  poor  devil  with 
an  exhausted  exchequer,  who  owed  him,  or  some  one  else. 
Said  he :  — 

*'  Whereas,  on  certain  boughs  and  sprays, 
Now  divers  birds  are  heard  to  sing, 
And  sundry  flowers  their  heads  upraise. 
Hail  to  the  coming  on  of  Spring ! 

"  The  songs  of  those  said  birds  arouse 
The  memory  of  our  youthful  hours, 
As  green  as  those  said  sprays  and  boughs, 
As  fresh  and  sweet  as  those  said  flowers. 


woman;  love,  and  marriage.  277 

"  The  birds  aforesaid  —  happy  pairs !  — 

Love  'mid  the  aforesaid  bowers  enshrines 
In  freehold  nests  :  themselves,  their  heirs, 
Administrators  and  assigns. 

"  Oh,  busiest  term  of  Cupid's  court ! 

"Where  tender  plaintiffs  actions  bring  — 
Season  of  frolic  and  of  sport ! 
Hail,  as  aforesaid,  coming  Spring !  " 

But,  alas  for  the  poetry  of  love,  even  in  bird-life,  for  they  quar- 
rel and  fight  as  regularly  as  the  days  come  round  ;  and  only  on 
the  highlands  of  the  human  kingdom  can  love  really  be  what  it 
ought.  At  present  the  Spring  of  love  and  married  life  too  often 
turns  into  the  roughest  kind  of  a  "Winter  of  chronic  discontent. 
All,  all  for  want  of  a  little  practical  self-culture,  and  yielding- 
ness  of  disposition  from  each  to  other. 

The  poet  who  wrote  the  following  lines  was  close  upon  the 
right :  — 

"  Great  truths  are  dearly  bought.     The  common  truth 
Such  as  men  give  and  take  from  day  to  day, 
Comes  in  the  common  walks  of  daily  life, 
Blown  by  the  careless  wind  across  our  way. 

"  Bought  in  the  market  at  the  current  price, 

Bred  of  the  smile,  the  jest,  perchance  the  bowl, 
It  tells  no  tales  of  daring  or  of  worth, 
Nor  peers  beneath  the  surface  of  the  soul. 

"  Great  truths  are  dearly  won  —  not  formed  by  chance, 
Nor  wafted  on  the  breath  of  summer  dream ; 
But  grasped  in  the  great  struggle  of  the  soul, 
Hard  buffeting  with  adverse  wind  and  stream. 

"  Not  in  the  general  mart,  'mid  corn  and  wine ; 
Not  in  the  merchandise  of  gold  and  gems ; 
Not  in  the  world's  gay  hall  of  midnight  mirth ; 
Nor  mid  the  blaze  of  regal  diadems ; 

"  But  in  the  day  of  conflict,  fear  and  grief, 

When  the  strong  hand  of  God,  put  forth  in  might, 
Ploughs  up  the  subsoil  of  the  stagnant  heart, 

And  brings  the  imprisoned  truth-seeds  to  the  light ; 


278  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MATiliTAGR. 

"  Wrung  from  the  troubled  spirit  in  hard  hours 
Of  weakness,  solitude,  perchance  of  pain  — 
Truth  springs  like  harvest  from  the  well-ploughed  field, 
And  the  soul  feels  it  has  not  wept  in  vain." 

Of  all  the  hard  truths  to  discover  and  go  by  steadily  when 
found,  the  hardest  is  :  That  no  self-seeking  person  can  possi- 
bly be  happy  !  Joy,  to  be  real,  must  be  reflected  back  upon  us 
from  some  one  in  whom  we  have  first  kindled  the  fire  that  love 
feeds  on  ;  or  to  whom  we  have  freely  given  that  better  manna 
whose  office  is  to  fatten  souls,  and  clarify  the  conscience. 

Love,  in  the  higher,  deeper,  broader  sense,  is  most  undoubtedly 
an  essence  of  the  soul  per  se;  but  as  times  go,  and  men  and 
women  are,  as  at  present,  so  very  imperfectly  organized,  faultily 
made  up,  semi-refined, — for  but  few  men  are  really  civilized 
below  their  chins,  and  only  a  few  women  in  the  masses  are 
rounded  out,  full  and  complete  in  the  really  womanly  character, 
—  a  very  common  mesmeric  infatuation  takes  its  place,  and 
passes  current  as  the  genuine  quality.  How  can  it  well  be 
otherwise  in  these  days,  wherein  the  finest  student  at  his  desk, 
or  the  leading  belle  in  the  circles  of  the  haut  ton,  are  both  com- 
pounded of  bad  food  and  worse  air,  built  up  day  by  day,  and 
year  by  year,  with  and  by  the  blood  and  flesh  of  abused  and 
murdered  beasts,  —  for  not  one  animal  in  a  thousand  but  meets 
its  death  in  agonies  of  mental  horror !  Penned  up  for  weeks 
together  in  sight  and  smell  of  the  gory  shambles,  until  its  very 
horror  is  crystallized  in  every  ounce  of  its  flesh,  —  intended  for, 
and  consumed  as,  human  food  !  There  is  not  a  legislature  in 
this  country,  but  whose  first  and  supreme  duty  is  to  see  that  no 
beast  shall  ever  know,  till  the  blow  falls,  that  death  awaits  it; 
and  then  our  meat  will  not  at  the  same  time  nourish  our  bodies, 
half  poison  our  blood,  and  wholly  demoralize  our  natures.  For 
as  an  ox  dies,  so  will  be  the  effect  of  its  flesh  on  all  who  eat  it. 
France  understands  this  thing  perfectly. 

It  will  pay  any  one  to  be  careful  of  their  diet  —  as  to  the 
quality  of  bird,  fowl,  beast  or  fish ;  and  to  avoid  all  lowly-or- 
ganized food,  as  well  as  in  the  matter  of  cookery ;  for  whoever 
handles  our  food  should  be  our  well-wisher  and  friend ;  else,  if 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  279 

they  hate  us,  their  malificent  magnetism  poisons  every  mouth- 
ful we  partake  of,  —  which  is  just  why  Solomon  said,  "  Better 
is  a  dinner  of  potherbs  where  love  is,  than  a  feast  of  stalled 
oxen  where  hatred  reigns,"  —  or  to  that  direct  effect ;  for  what- 
ever affects  our  bodies  acts  straight  upon  our  souls. 

Whatever  may  be  love's  foundation  and  root,  certain  it  is 
that  its  play  is  at  least  half  sensuous.  Now,  by  this  term  is 
not  meant  that  its  manifestation  and  action  is  wholly,  or  even 
in  great  part,  always  toward  the  sex  instinct ;  but  that  that  ele- 
ment is  very  seldom  entirely  absent  therefrom ;  and  that  it  is 
generally  sensuous,  nervous,  electric,  magnetic,  and,  lastly 
ethereal.  Perhaps  this  latter  had  better  be  defined  and  illus- 
trated.    It  shall  be  done. 

A  person  sees  another,  imperfectly,  yet  that  glimpse  proves 
very  disquieting,  even  though  no  word  was  spoken.  The  effect 
was  ethereal,  —  purely,  — ■  that  is  to  say,  the  smitten  one  has 
suddenly,  instantaneously,  been  pervaded,  and  filled  up  with  the 
ethereal  aura  or  nerve-sphere  emanating  or  radiating  from  the 
combined  soul,  mind  and  body  of  the  other,  which  halo,  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent,  surrounds  us  all.  Now  whoever  wills  to 
do  so  can  prevent  the  nervous  impressionability  to  said  spheres, 
and  if  girls  and  wives  would  but  exercise  that  repellant  force  of 
will,  the  seducing  gentry  would  speedily  fiud  their  occupation 
gone  ;  for,  as  said  already,  a  woman  is  perfectly  safe  so  long  as 
she  resists  the  subtle  action  of  this  pervasive  sphere  or  aura ; 
and  no  woman  on  earth  is  safe  who  allows  it  to  pervade  her 
body ;  for  it  is  a  part  of  him  whoever  he  may  be,  and  if  he  gets 
that  advantage,  she  is  lost,  unless  his  honor  or  an  accident  res- 
cues her  from  the  peril ! 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  whoever  exhausts  this  ether  of  their 
own  act  commits  slow  but  certain  suicide  ;  for  when  that  is  gone 
life  and  power  too  are  on  swift  pinions  fleeing  far  away ;  hence 
to  preserve  and  re-establish  it  when  wasted,  is  the  true  end 
and  aim  of  a  manly,  womanly  life.  While  we  have  it,  people 
love  us ;  when  it  is  gone,  they  drop  off  from  us  like  summer  hail 
from  slaten  roofs.  Health,  as  a  general  thing,  will  preserve  this 
ether,  and  the  power  it  implies,  as  well  as  that  of  its  generation 


280  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

and  evolution,  to  a  very  late  period  of  life.  And  those  who 
do  so  are  young  at  ninety  years  ;  like  Aspasia,  or  Ninon  de  L'En- 
clos,  —  or  thousands  of  young-old  people  whom  we  all  know  ; 
whereas  a  young  man  in  years  is  old  in  fact,  from  the  moment 
his  body  refuses  to  manufacture  this  potent  vif,  this  essential 
life  of  human  kind. 

Just  as  long  as  a  man  or  woman  are  true  to  e^ach  other  their 
respective  ethereal  spheres  commingle  and  blend,  and  both  are 
supremely  blest  and  happy ;  but  let  either  of  them,  no  matter 
how  secretly,  —  and  some  married  people  have  very  shady  ways, 

—  even  once  step  aside,  and  allow  the  corresponding  sphere  of 
another  to  mingle  with  their  own,  then  their  own  is  sure  to 
absorb  some  of  that  other's,  and  then  when  the  husband  or 
wife  brings  it  home,  there  is  no  longer  a  perfect  fusion  between 
the  twain,  for  the  foreign  ingredient  is  there  to  tell  God's  truth, 
and  prove  some  one  false  and  a  liar,  in  spite  of  all  wordy  pro- 
testations of  innocence  !  God  never  lies  !  —  and  in  an  instant 
wife  and  husband  ethereally  antagonize  each  other,  heaven 
ceases  its  beneficent  rule,  and  red-hot  hell  begins  to  fan  its 
fires !  And  this  is  what  was  meant  by  the  hint  thrown  out  in 
the  earlier  pages  of  this  volume. 

So  long  as  a  wife  can  maintain  that  fresh,  ethereal  envelope 

—  and  she  cannot  do  that  if  she  is  sour-tempered,  fretful, 
vinegarish,  or  if  she  is  hectored  to  death  —  in  more  tvays  than 
one  *  —  just  so  long,  and  no  longer,  can  she  hold  her  husband  to 

*  Early  in  1871,  during  the  run  of  the  fifth  edition  of  the  work  on  Love, 
preceding  this  volume,  "The  Master  Passion,"  the  author  of  both  re- 
ceived the  following  letter,  and  returned  the  subjoined  reply  :  — 

"  Chicago,  Feb.  7th,  1871. 
"Db.  P.  B.  Randolph,  —  Deak  Sir:  —  Is  there  any  method  on  earth 
whereby  I  can  regain  the  love  of  my  wife  ?  Once  she  was  all  my  soul 
desired;  now  she  is  cold,  and  meets  me  with  a  shudder.  If  you  reprint 
the  'Master  Passion,'  or  write  another  work  on  Love, — which  I  under- 
stand you  intend  to,  under  the  name  of  '  Casca  Llanna,'  —  will  you  not  give 
wives  and  husbands  the  precious  knowledge  of  how  to  make  home  happy, 
in  directions  where  wretchedness  now  reigns  in  millions  of  families  ?  If 
you  will,  the  blessings  of  mankind  cannot  fail  to  be  6howered  upon  your 
head.  "  T.  B.  W." 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND    MARRIAGE.  281 

her  side  and  to  his  duty  toward  her,  even  though  there  be  precious 
little  of  the  deep  and  upper  love  between  them.  And  when  a 
husband  allows  his  own  sphere  of  power  to  die  out,  as  it  often 
does,  from  various  causes,  among  which  are  too  much  attention 
in  some  respects,  too  great  neglect  in  others ;  and  by  an  excess 
of  fire  to-day,  and  an  overplus  of  ice  the  next ;  or  by  ill-usage 
of  himself  or  her,  he  is  death-sure  to  aim  a  very  powerful  and 
surprisingly  successful  blow  at  his  own  happiness  and  peace  of 
mind.  To  keep  this  thing  fresh  and  powerful  requires  but  very 
little  effort.  Neglect  it,  laugh  at,  or  snap  the  sneering  fingers 
at  a  truth  like  this,  if  you  will,  but  rest  assured  there  will  come 
a  day  of  most  bitter  and  poignant  regrets  if  you  do  ;  for  al- 
though this  is  a  new  discovery  here  given  for  the  first  tjme  to 
the  world,  yet  it  is  as  true  as  everlasting  Truth  herself. 

In  a  great  many  more  cases  than  people  might  suspect  the 
magnetic  and  ethereal  body  and  polar  powers  of  love,  so  to 
speak,  have  been  destroyed  altogether,  or  reversed  to  such  a 
degree,  that  the  one  who  once  held  the  other  in  complete  affec- 


"  Friend  "W. :  —  It  would  be  impossible  to  publish  in  a  book  the  in- 
formation you  seek,  and  which  every  wife  and  husband  on  earth  ought 
to  have,  because  the  subject  is  exceedingly  delicate,  while  of  enormous 
value.  However,  in  your  case  I  will  write  it  out,  and  herewith  will  en- 
close it  to  you.  Abide  by  the  counsel  laid  down  in  this  Golden  Letter  ; 
treasure  the  knowledge  of  this  golden  secret,  apply  its  rules,  and  happiness 
which  has  fled,  will  assuredly  return  to  you  —  and  to  the  wife  whom 
Heaven  designed  to  be  happy,  and  not  wretched  with  you.  Of  course  the 
information  is  of  a  strictly  private  character,  and  strictly  holy  too.  My 
charge  for  the  trouble  taken  is  not  less  than  ten  dollars  in  any  case ;  and 
you  will  no  doubt  say  that  a  better  investment  never  yet  was  made. 

"Yours,  etc., 

"P.  B.  E." 

The  favor  thus  granted  to  T.  B.  W.  will  also  be  to  others,  who  suffer 
from  similar  causes.  The  address  of  the  author  will  be  found  elsewhere, 
but  he  takes  occasion  to  say  that  in  no  case  will  the  letter  be  sent  to 
persons  prompted  by  mere  curiosity  or  morbid  minds.  It  is  intended 
solely  for  unhappy  wedded  people,  and  knowingly  will  not  be  sent  to  any 
other  at  any  price,  and  then  only  on  strict  honorable  confidence. 


282  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

tional  bondage,  has  entirely  and  forever  lost  all  power  over 
that  one  in  that  direction. 

Comparatively  happy  homes  have  been  rendered  desolate  by 
the  personal  neglect  of  tidiness  in  a  wife.  Such  things  have 
resulted  from  the  habitual  non-use  of  the  bath ;  and  hundreds 
of  cases  exist  where  the  ethereal  life  of  love  has  been  utterly 
destro3red,  and  snuffed  out,  as  it  were,  by  the  foul  breath  and 
other  noisome  exhalements  of  a  rum-sozzled  apology  for  a  hus- 
band. Per  contra:  many  a  dying  love  has  been  rekindled,  or 
resurrected  from  an  untimely  grave,  and  a  man's  heart  made 
happy  by  a  thorough  and  radical  change  of  conduct  on  the  part 
of  a  theretofore  sloven  wife,  to  tidiness,  neatness,  and  welcome 
smiles.  It  hurts  a  man  in  his  tenderest  part  to  see  a  woman 
who,  all  neatness,  tenderness,  and  love,  before  marriage,  after 
that  loses  sight  of  her  duty,  and  thinks,  practically,  that  a  tame 
surrender,  in  some  respects,  is  all  that's  needed  on  her  part  to 
render  his  love  and  allegiance  prompt  and  sure.  A  man  may 
not  openly  complain,  but  he  feels  these  things  nevertheless  ;  and 
a  wife  who  fails  in  neatness,  in  all  respects,  in  these  days  of 
cheap  water  and  good  soap,  lays  the  axe  direct  at  the  root  of 
her  own  tree  of  happiness  and  comfort.  Neither  does  a  hus- 
band very  often  like  to  put  up  with  an  overplus  of  strong- 
minded  airs,  so  rife  in  these  days  of  agitation  ;  for  whatever  he 
may  abstractly  think  of  the  suffrage  and  ballot  business,  he'd 
rather  not  have  his  wife  or  daughter  make  public  shows  of 
themselves  on  election  days  ;  for  the  private  opinion  of  the 
majority  of  sensible  men  is,  whatever  gallantry  or  policy  may 
induce  them  to  say  to  the  contrary,  that  ballot-stuffing  and 
highflown  hustings  speechifying  is  not  the  highest  or  most 
radiantly  glorious  sphere  for  female  action ;  nor  can  he  help 
realizing  the  great  truth  that  it  was,  is,  and  ever  will  be,  ut- 
terly impossible  for  a  "  strong-minded  woman"  and  wife  at  the 
same  time,  to  be  a  loving  one,  or  a  true  and  gentle  one,  or  a 
careful  mother  at  home  either. 

The  writer  of  this  never  yet  saw  one  of  that  sort,  who  was 
not  at  least  three-fourths  man  and  one-fourth  What  Is  It  ?  —  and 
this  is  said  without  disparagement  of  woman's  right  to  be  taxed 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AXD    MARRIAGE.  283 

and  represented,  if  she  wants  the  latter.  Equality  before  the 
law,  but  no  public  voting.  If  the  ballot  was  open  to  all  the 
women  in  the  world,  the  decent  wives,  sisters,  and  mothers,  as 
classes,  would  refrain  and  stay  at  home.  The  Irish  servant 
girls  would  ponder  on  the  adage  :  — 

"  Thim  that's  rich  can  ride  in  chaises ; 
But  thim  that's  poor  must  walk,  by  Jazus  !  " 

and  go  to  "  vote  themselves  a  farm ! "  The}7  would,  like 
their  brethren,  vote  early  and  vote  often,  while  toward  evening 
the  harlots  would  get  up,  and,  after  depositing  their  ballots,  join 
their  male  friends  in  such  innocent  espieglerie,  as  bonneting 
passers  by,  smashing  windows,  and  imbibing  smashes,  winding 
up  the  voting  farce  with  roaring  staves  to  a  full  chorus  of 

"  We  won't  go  (hie)  home  till  (hie)  morn-ing; 
Till  (hie)  daylight  (hie)  does  ap-pear !  " 

A  genuine  demonstration  of  human  love,  except  for  herself, 
on  the  part  of  any  one  of  the  vast  host  of  female  agitators,  the 
whole  tribe  of  professional  "  mediums"  and  long-winded  virtue- 
preaching,  free-love  practising,  universal  concubines  who  parade 
the  land  and  demolish  homes,  as  Genseric  did  the  fanes,  would 
be  a  miracle  surpassing  the  loaves  and  fishes  ;  or  a  swindle  as 
empty  of  truth  as  the  Tricksters  Home  and  the  Davenport 
brothers,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  swindling  pack's  alleged  won- 
ders are  of  solid  truth  and  human  honesty. 

Such  a  woman's  affectional  demonstrations,  if  not  wholly 
vampiral,  would  be  a  wide  departure  from  the  truth  ;  would  not 
be  really  human,  butsnakish,  fangful,  Judas-like,  because  utterly 
and  wholly  empty  of  all  genuine  heartness,  that  ineffable  delight 
man  sighs  for  and  expects.  Instead  of  this  such  a  woman 
would  freeze  a  man's  soul,  and  deck  his  being  with  icicles.  He 
may  admire  her,  but  to  love  her  were  simply  impossible.  Tal- 
ented and  even  beautiful,  she  might  be ;  yet  off  the  stage  she 
would  be  ice-cream,  and  /  scream  when  on  it  —  only  that  and 
nothing  more !  -  ■-  :    - 


284  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

"  The  rights  of  woman  who  demand, 
Those  women  are  but  few ; 
The  greater  part  had  rather  stand 
Exactly  as  they  do. 

"  Beauty  has  claims  for  which  she  fights 
At  ease,  with  winning  arms ; 
The  women  who  want  Woman's  rights 
Want,  mostly,  Woman's  charms." 

It  is  time  too,  that  women  began  to  prove  themselves  exactly 
what  they  desire  to  be  considered.  The  writer  does  not  think 
woman  so  utterly  weak,  puny  and  feeble,  as  to  be  wholly  de- 
pendent upon  man's  charities  and  championship  ;  but  believes 
she  ought  to  prove  herself  equal  to  the  task  of  working  out  her 
own  destiny  with  more  courage  and  less  whine.  "  It  is,','  said 
the  "  Springfield  Republican,"  "  high  time  that  a  woman's  virtue 
should  be  considered  at  her  own  risk,  and  that  no  man  should 
be  liable  to  be  shot  by  her  or  anybody  else,  because  she  loses 
it."  In  these  latter  days,  when  a  sharp  woman  tries  to  play  a 
game  at  a  man's  expense  and  gets  euchred,  as  some  of  them  do, 
especially  the  lecturing  lasses,  she's  very  apt  to  declare  she's 
been  "  fascinated,"  "  psychologized,"  "  magnetically  capti- 
vated," and  a  lot  of  other  stuff  to  the  same  import ;  and  it  is 
the  "  Reformatory  "  class  who  urge  such  lame  excuses,  for  no 
decent  woman  ever  descended  to  such  paltryisms,  for  the  chances 
against  any  man  playing  that  game  is  at  least  five  hundred  to 
one  against  him,  and  in  her  favor.  The  writer  knew  three  or 
four  "  Reformatory  beats  "  in  Boston,  who  were  regularly  ruined 
by  "  Psychology"  about  six  times  a  year.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
whenever  a  woman  offers  such  a  plea,  she  has  tried  to  black- 
mail some  man  and  been  tripped  up,  after  the  manner  of  the 
"  Cody,  Cody"  vestal  of  stump  oratorical  notoriety;  or  the 
"  Flora,  the  sharp  blonde,"  who  tried  it  on  and  failed  once  upon 
a  time,  and  was  forced  to  retreat  to  her  black  paramour's  arms ; 
or  —  pshaw !  what's  the  use  ?  the  names  and  games  of  innu- 
merable specimens  of  the  same  ilk  are  ready  to  fall  from  the 
pen.  Mankind,  beware  of  them,  for  they  are  gentle  as  sucking 
doves,  but  bite  like  the  devil ;  but  then,  all  the  writer  ever  saw 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  285 

were  ultra-radical  lecturing  lunatics,  or  strong-minded  reform- 
el  s  of  some  sort,  not  one  of  whom  he  believed  to  be  honest,  but 
did  believe  either  insane  or  rogues  ingrain,  and  believes  so  still. 

If  a  woman  has  her  wits  about  her,  no  man  can  catch  her 
tripping ;  for  all  the  absurd  twaddle,  spiritualistic  and  fool- 
istic  also,  about  "  psychologising  "  is  mere  bosh  ;  and  no  woman 
of  an  ounce  of  brains  will  ever  plead  such  an  excuse  —  that  is, 
none  except  such  as  are  periodically  "  seduced"  and  regularly 
ruined  thrice  a  jrear ;  nor  as  a  general  thing  will  such  an  absurd 
excuse  be  made  save  by  guilty  vampires,  or  old  boarding- 
house  harridans  of  the  lowest  stamp  —  some  quasi  reformatory, 
vinegar-visaged  virago  and  termagant  of  whom  at  least  one 
fine  specimen  holds  court  in  the  "  hub." 

Let  us  turn  from  that  sickening  mass  of  moral  and  social 
corruption,  having  punctured  it  sufficient  to  let  the  world  know 
its  odor,  and  once  more  get  ourselves  into  decent  society, — 
and  the  author  admits  that  before  he  knew  aught  of  radicalism 
he  moved  in  decent  society  ;  and  also  after  he  left  them,  but 
knew  not  what  the  terms  meant  while  associating  with  them,  on 
the  principle  that  to  know  what  a  movement  is,  you  must  be 
outside,  and  not  a  part  of  it.  No  doubt  radicals  think  them- 
selves all  right  and  sweet ;  and  no  doubt,  too,  that  buzzards 
feasting  on  a  dead  alligator  declare  the  thing  is  bunkum,  but 
other  creatures  think  it  all  buncombe. 

After  this  book  was  entirely  written,  the  author  while  waiting 
to  stereotype  it,  emploj^ed  himself  in  retouching  it  here  and 
there ;  and  on  this  14th  day  of  August,  1871,  while  writing  this 
identical  page,  he  cut  the  following  from  the  "  Boston  Herald," 
and  if  any  further  display  of  the  beauties  of  free  love  and  Pan- 
tarchism  is  needed,  why,  plenty  more  —  of  the  same  sort  and 
worse  —  can  readily  be  furnished  :  — 

"The  Home  of  Free  Lovees  —  One  of  them  Charged  with  Rape. 
—  The  New  York  Sunday  papers  state  that  one  of  the  editors  of  W.  &  Co's 
weekly  has  been  charged  with  committing  an  outrage  on  a  respectable  girl 
in  that  city,  whose  mother  is  one  of  the  strong-minded  clique.  The  story  of 
crime  as  told  by  the  '  News,'  is  as  follows  :  — 

"In  November  last,  Mrs.  Miles,  a  sister  of  Mrs.  "Woodhull  and  Miss  Ten- 


286  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARltlAGE. 

me  Claflin,  left  Brooklyn,  where  she  was  doing  a  good  business  at  54  "Wyck- 
off  Street,  and  came  to  this  city  to  keep  house  for  her  banker  and  broker 
sisters.  The  AVoodhull  mansion  in  Thirty-eighth  Street  had  not  yet  been 
fully  furnished,  and  Mrs.  Miles  and  her  daughter,  Ellie,  were  necessitated 
to  sleep  on  a  bed  on  the  floor.  Ellie  was  then  eleven  years  old,  and  was  in 
delicate  health  from  a  severe  cold.  S.  P.  A.  while  sitting  in  the  parlor  one 
evening,  observed  to  Mrs.  Miles  that  Ellie  had  not  sufficient  mercury  in  her 
system,  and  also  that  sleeping  on  the  floor  would  not  only  retard  her  cure, 
but  aggravate  the  disease.  He  suggested  that  she  should  sleep  in  the  bed 
with  himself  and  his  own  child.  In  his  constitution  he  said  he  had  a  great 
quantity  of  mercury,  and  by  Ellie  sleeping  in  the  same  bed  with  him,  she 
would  absorb  some  of  it  into  her  constitution.  Mrs.  Miles  consented  to 
allow  her  child  to  sleep  with  A.  and  his  own  child.  After  going  to  bed,  A. 
was  in  the  habit  of  rubbing  Ellie  all  over  the  body,  to  put  the  blood  in  cir- 
culation, and  '  excite  the  mercury  in  her  system,'  as  he  said.  One  night 
he  told  her  she  should  not  wear  any  under-clothing  whatever  while  in  bed, 
or  he  could  not  cure  her.  Next  night  the  child  went  by  his  advice,  and 
that  night  A.,  it  is  alleged,  perpetrated  the  foul  crime,  according  to 
her  own  sworn  affidavit  and  those  of  her  mother  and  aunt.  Next  morning 
Elbe  told  her  grandmother,  and  that  aged  lady  warned  her  not  to  speak  of 
it,  or  there  would  be  murder  in  the  house.  However,  the  matter  became 
known  and  A.  was  ejected  from  the  Woodhull  mansion  in  consequence.  He 
is,  however,  back  living  there  again.  Mrs.  Miles  has  taken  legal  steps 
to  punish  A.,  and  has  employed  Mr.  John  D.  Townsend  as  her  lawyer. 
Affidavits  have  been  made  containing  the  above  facts,  and  are  in  Mr.  Town- 
send's  possession,  and  will  be  laid  before  the  grand  jury  at  an  early  date." 

That  is  just  what  radicalism  comes  to.  Isn't  it  a  sweet 
thing?  Indeed,  as  a  reformatory  agency  one  may  ask,  how  high 
is  that  ?  and  wait  for  an  answer.  Just  eleven  years  old  !  and  he 
sixty  !  And  such  is  the  manhood  that  radicalism  develops  ! ! ! 
Wonder  if  the  other  infant  escaped  ?  And  yet  the  man  charged 
with  that  awful  crime  claimed  to  stand  at  the  head  of  Humanity, 
and  to  be  the  mouthpiece  of  the  infinite  God  ! 

To  resume.  An  honest  marriage  is  the  only  possible  field  for 
true  human  advancement,  as  in  it  and  the  joyous  parenthood 
which  results  therefrom  can  only  be  had  that  true  and  real  educa- 
tion which  fits  mankind  for  the  immortal  career  opening  before  it. 
"Whatever  lowers  the  standard  of  general  morals  should  be  handled 
with  ungloved  hands  ;  whatever  uplifts  it  be  hailed  with  gladness, 
and  one  of  the  best  agencies  will  be  the  growth  of  self-reliance, 


woman,  love,  jxd  marrtage.  287 

and  the  moral  courage  resultant  therefrom.  Now  there  are  two 
classes,  one  with  self-reliance,  and  "  brass"  enough  for  a  dozen 
Gambettas  or  Victor  Hugos  ;  and  an  immensely  larger  one,  with 
no  self-reliance  at  all,  —  women  who  perpetually  lean,  and  are 
ciphers  in  the  world.  No  home-joys  can  be  expected  from  the 
strong-minded  order  ;  the  latter  class  go  in  leading-strings  for- 
ever, and  between  them  both  genuine  old-fashioned  wives  and 
mothers  are  very  scarce  indeed,  and  a  man's  life  is  shorn  of  its 
happiness  as  a  result. 

The  woman  who  persists  in  old  maidhood,  when  she  might, 
if  she  would,  make  some  man  happy,  stands  in  her  own  light 
both  for  this  life  and  that  which  is  to  come  after  it.  Here  she 
spontaneously  gravitates  to  cats,  puppy  dogs,  poodle  pugs, 
gruel  and  gab  ;  while  the  woman  who  marries  and  lives  wholly 
in  and  for  what  is  called  "  society  "  as  naturally  runs  to  fashion, 
gossip,  scandal,  "  crirn.  con."  —  if  she  gets  a  chance  ;  and  if  she 
don't,  is  very  apt  to  make  one,  —  and  the  end  is  a  divorce 
court,  —  a  tune  played  by  twenty-two  thousand  annually,  in 
these  United  States  alone,  to  say  nothing  of  the  far  greater  host 
who  free  themselves  without  the  trouble  of  a  suit  at  law. 

The  woman  who  lives  at  home  and  for  home  is  on  the  straight 
road  to  a  life  of  high,  if  unsounded,  glory  ;  while  all  onlooking 
angels  of  earth  and  heaven  cry  Saint  I  and  point  admiringly  as 
she  passes  by !  And  when  men  behold  such  a  woman  they  do 
not  think  of  mere  possession,  but  wish  their  lives  were  blessed  with 
such  companionship  ;  for  she  inspires  esteem  and  respect,  not 
morbid  desires  and  base  thoughts,  as  she  winds  her  life-path 
along,  armed  with  her  husband's  trust  and  love ;  flanked  by  her 
young  darlings  !  Those  who  see  her  feel  lighter  and  purer  for 
the  seeing  ;  and  with  a  joyous,  hilarious  "  Look  ye  there  now ! 
Isn't  that  charming  !  "  wish  her  a  God-speed  to  the  end  of  the 
earthly  journey !  It  is  a  pleasant  path  to  walk  in,  but  sooth 
to  say,  the  grass  grows  long  and  rank  in  that  road,  because,  in 
these  dismal  days,  it  is  so  very  seldom  travelled  through.  It 
won't  be  so  always,  for,  in  these  matters  there's  a  good  time 
coming,  only  wait  a  little  longer ! 

Men  can  stand  great  troubles  in  the  world,  and  can  recover 


288  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

from  them,  even  when  repeatedly  stricken  down  ;  but  just  trans- 
fer the  scene  of  even  petty  vexations  from  the  workshop, 
office,  or  street,  to  the  home-side,  and  his  moral  strength  begins 
to  wane  forthwith ;  for,  if  the  man  is  constantly  assailed  with 
volleys  of  petty  domestic  hail,  rain,  and  sleet,  the  end  of  that 
man's  happiness  and  usefulness  is  exceedingly  close  at  hand ; 
for  the  perpetual  snarlings  and  recurrence  of  petty  broils  and 
stabs,  such  as  thousands  of  able  and  good  men  experience  from 
their  "  better  halves,"  will  soon  wear  out  the  strongest  man, 
and  plunge  him,  neck  and  heels,  into  sheer  despair  and  mad- 
ness ;  for  it  lies  within  the  power  of  almost  every  wife  to  render 
her  husband's  life  either  a  constant  drama  of  love-joy  in  thou- 
sand phases,  or  turn  it  into  a  dismal  tragedy,  whose  shifting 
scenes  are  but  variations  of  the  essence  of  trouble,  and  the 
marriage,  in  very  truth,  the  gall  of  bitterness  and  bond  of  in- 
iquity. But  a  great  many  more  modern  wives  travel  the  former 
road,  and  a  great  deal  too  few  the  latter.  Presently,  they'll 
right  about  face,  and  move  in  straighter  paths  ;  for  when  good 
examples  multiply,  the  fever  will  be  catching,  and  millions  more 
will,  seeing  such  good  results,  try  it  themselves  to  find  out  how 
the  new  thing  works. 

The  soundness  and  perpetuity  of  domestic  affection  very  often 
depends  upon  causes  apparently  quite  trivial  in  their  nature, 
but  which,  judging  from  effects,  are  unquestionably  not  so. 
People  often  say  that  such  and  such  a  circumstance  touched 
them,  —  this  bar  of  music,  that  sad  story,  or  the  other  account, 
—  and  they  speak  nearer  the  truth  than  they  imagine ;  for  it 
is  only  once  in  a  while  that  our  inner  selves  are  touched  at  all, 
either  by  reason  of  our  own  callousness,  or  for  lack  of  power 
on  the  part  of  the  circumstance  whatever  it  may  be  or  have 
been.  Now,  most  married  people  live  wholly  outside  of  each 
other's  hearts,  deeper  feelings,  and  inner  nature,  and  that  is 
just  where  the  trouble  comes  from  in  marriagedom.  We  skim 
over  each  other's  surfaces,  and  never  impact  souls,  or  contact 
each  other's  fuller,  deeper,  higher,  better  selfhoods  ;  and  where 
we  do  not  thus  touch  each  other,  there  you  will  find  the  per- 
fected  elements  of  a  first-class,  even  if  a  smothered   purga- 


1V0MAK,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  289 

torium.  And  the  intensity  thereof  is  exactly  in  the  ratio  of 
the  degree  of  non-impact,  or  contact,  of  our  several  magnetic, 
nervous,  electric,  ethereal,  and  sj'mpathetic  natures.  If  these 
do  not  fuse,  we  never  actually  meet ;  and,  in  that  case,  man 
and  wife  are  really  and  essentially  as  far  apart  as  if  they  were 
separated  by  the  vast  waters  of  the  Pacific  sea.  People  fail  to 
realize  that  marriage  means  absolute  union  of  the  entire  mental, 
social,  physical,  moral,  esthetic,  religious,  magnetic,  and  all 
other  departments  of  their  nature  ;  and  they  who  fail  to  realize 
all  this  and  more,  in  so  far  forth,  fall  short  of  actualizing,  in 
their  lives,  the  sublime  divinity  of  true  marriage. 

Touch  !  there's  a  world  of  unimagined  meanings  in  the  holy 
word,  each  one  of  which  is  as  far  beyond,  and  removed  from, 
the  low  sensualist's  ideal,  as  calm  and  peaceful  heaven  is  from 
storm-tossed,  fiery,  malice-belching  hell !  No  lust-ruled  thing 
in  human  shape  can  think  the  sacred  thing  here  meant ;  can 
never  even  reach  an  idea  of  its  fading  shadow,  much  less  its 
exquisite  death,  but  a  death  preceding  a  whole  heaven  of 
glorious  and  ineffable  life,  —  life  wherein  every  nerve  is  tuned  to 
such  celestial  tension  that  the  very  soul  cries  quit !  for  a  time, 
that  it  may  pass  into  its  soft  dream,  and  drink  its  fill  of  echoed 
and  rebounding  bliss, —  bliss  which  a  bad  man  never  can  realize, 
never  can  comprehend,  never  even  halfly  know ;  bliss  which 
never  descends  to  a  bad  woman,  but  only  comes  from  God,  out 
of  heaven  to  the  pure  in  heart,  and  those  who  truly  love  ! 

The  external  man,  he  who  is  bound  up  in  sense  alone,  whose 
nature  is  passion,  and  whose  God  is  the  dollar,  can  never  pass 
over  that  bridge.  Thank  God,  there  are  some  things  money 
cannot  buy  ;  and  that  deep,  delicious  love  is  one  of  them.  So 
be  it  for  aye !  And  mental  power,  and  lofty  vision,  and  com- 
panionship of  mighty  thought,  are  other  items  unpurchasable 
by  the  combined  millions  of  golden  ducats  ;  thank  God,  again ! 
And,  above  all,  the  sweet  consciousness  that,  lonely  and  for- 
saken though  the  toiler  may  be,  in  the  battle  for  the  right,  yet 
victory  stands  ever  close  at  hand,  to  crown  him  or  her,  at  the 
right  moment,  after  the  terrible  ordeal  is  over,  after  the  fearful 
tribulation,  fervent,  fiery  assation  has  refined  the  gold  within. 


290  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MAnRIAGE. 

The  mere  voluptuary  can,  at  best,  only  skim  the  surface  of 
the  boundless,  fathomless  ocean  of  joy,  wherein  the  truly  good 
and  loving  plunge  in  a  God-bath,  and  disport  themselves  in  its 
deeps,  and  grottos  and  sunlit  caves,  where  profane  and  wicked 
souls  may  not  enter  or  intrude  !  Oh,  the  life  of  perfect  love  ! 
Oh,  the  rapt  ideal  of  purity,  innocence,  trust,  and  truth !  For 
this  holy  thing  means  an  absolute  fusion  of  immortal  natures  ; 
a  perfect  blending  of  love-crowned  human  souls ;  the  supreme 
acme  of  all  possible  joy  !  the  dying  away  in  the  arms  of  God  ! 
—  His  fingers  evoking  grandest  strains  and  clivinest  melodies  of 
varied  and  celestial  music  from  the  double-human  harmonium ! 

This  sacred  thing  means  even  more  than  all  that ;  for  as  it 
unrolls  before  the  soul  of  Casca  Llanna,  words  are  found  all 
too  cold  and  impure  to  express  the  inexpressible,  unutterable 
marrow  of  the  thing  intended, — the  superlative  lavement  in 
the  divine  stream  of  love,  —  the  perfect  abandonment  to  jo}r  in 
the  waters  which  flow  from  under  the  Infinite  throne  !  It  means 
a  satisfactory  meal  from  the  fruit,  rich  and  ripe,  growing  on  the 
sunniest  boughs  of  the  Tree  of  Immortal  Life !  It  means  a 
losing  of  all  outer  sense,  and  a  full  awaking  to  the  inner !  It 
means  being  filled,  being  thrilled,  with  the  exquisite  rapture  of 
the  upper  skies,  and  bathing  freely  in  the  seas  of  Elysium  ! 

He  is  a  poor  substitute  for  a  man  who  can  only  realize  pas- 
sion in  any  of  its  lower  phases,  in  this  supreme  idea  of  perfect 
blending  of  the  entirety  of  two  natures.  He  is  low,  mean, 
utterly  contemptible,  if  he  fails  to  see  that  in  this  blending, 
souls  and  spirits,  not  mere  senses,  meet  and  mingle,  and  such  a 
man  must  die,  and  live  again  beyond  the  darkly-surging  river, 
before  he  can  appreciate  the  heavenly  joys  of  celestial  mar- 
riage, in  which  two  become  entirely  one,  and  this  and  nothing 
lower  is  what  is  meant  by  Touch  ! 

Just  as  certain  as  that  laws  are  positive  in  the  domain  of 
physics  or  gross  or  refined  matter,  even  more  so  are  they  true 
and  operative  in  the  realms  of  mind  and  emotion.  We  all  love 
some  people  more  than  others,  and  those  better  at  some  times 
than  different  ones.  We  are  very  often  a  great  deal  nearer 
of  kin  to  utter  strangers  than  to  individuals  of  our  own  blood, 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND    MARRIAGE.  291 

even  our  own  brothers  and  sisters ;  for  it  does  not  follow  that 
two  bullets  are  related  to  each  other  simply  because  they  may 
have  been  cast  in  the  same  mould  ;  for  one  may  be  of  lead  and 
the  other  of  refined  gold,  —  exactly  as  really  happens  in  the 
case  of  children  born  to  the  same  parents ;  for  we  frequently 
have  genius  and  stupidity,  fineness  and  sensuality,  weakness  and 
its  opposite  in  the  same  family.  No,  it  requires  something 
more  than  mere  consanguinity  to  make  us  truly  related  ;  and  in 
the  case  of  wedded  couples  there  must  be  something  more  than 
mere  consent  and  physical  union  to  constitute  them  one  ;  for  if 
there  be  no  electrical,  ethereal,  magnetic,  emotional,  mental, 
moral  and  duo-chemical  affinity,  attraction,  vraisemblance, — 
there's  not  much  marriage  in  that  union ;  and  it  forthwith  be- 
hoves the  parties  concerned  to  bring  about  the  desired  condi- 
tions, instead  of,  as  is  common,  racking  their  wits  to  make  mat- 
ters worse,  rather  than  better  ;  for  if  the  denizens  of  marriage- 
dom  do  not  fuse,  mix,  mingle,  interblend,  they  are  twain,  not 
one,  as  they  should  be;^  If  they  do  thus  intermingle  there  is  joy 
abroad  in  the  land.  If  they  do  not,  there  are  barriers  in  their 
paths  of  life,  which  must  be  surmounted  or  cast  down,  before 
the  crooked  can  be  made  straight,  or  they  twain  truly  have  an 
enduring  kinship,  friendship,  marriage. 

You  cannot  mix  oil  and  water :  No  !  yes  !  — if  we  put  a  lit- 
tle lime  with  them  we  can,  but  not  without.  Henry  and  Sarah 
call  themselves  married.  But  are  they  really  so,  seeing  she  frets 
under  the  yoke  ;  and  he  sighs  for  liberty  —  to  make  another  mis- 
take !  They  do  not  fuse !  the}'  are  oil  and  water.  Let  them 
add  a  little  mental  and  moral  lime,  in  the  shape  of  forbearance, 
change  of  habits,  conduct,  manner  and  demonstrative  affection, — 
try, —  and  they  maj^  soon  become  a  Kalsomate  of  wedlock ; 
or  a  Henriade  of  Sarah  !  But  to  do  so  successfully,  both  must 
take  good  care  to  avoid  vampirism,  and  to  be  physically, 
morally,  and  above  all  thoughtfully,  true  to  each  other  and 
themselves,  no  matter  how  great  the  provocation  to  be  other- 
wise, or  how  strong  the  temptation  to  go  astray ;  for  if  either 
mingles  with  a  third,  they  but  add  a  new  element  of  bitterness 
to  the  cream  of  existence,  out  of  which  the  butter  of  happiness 


292  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE. 

will  not  come,  for  the  simple  reason  that  it  takes  two  to  make 
one  in  genuine  marriage. 

At  present  things  are  badly  mixed  up  in  this  conglomerate 
of  savagerj',  barbarism,  civilization,  and  the  compound  social 
hash  resulting  from  the  combination  of  them  all,  not  as  separate 
and  distinct  grades  only,  but,  nine  times  in  ten,  mixed  up  in  the 
same  individual ;  —  for  how  very  often  dowe  see  men  and  wom- 
en too,  whose  intellects  and  conduct  are  perfectly  civilized  ; 
whose  religious  nature  is  spasmodically  intense  and  devotional ; 
whose  temper  is  savage,  and,  when  fully  up,  extremely  diabol- 
ical ;  and  whose  untrained  sensual  passions  are  barbarous, 
judging  from  what  their  private  conduct  is,  and  the  sad  story 
their  faces  tell, —  stories  sadly,  mournfully  echoed  by  the  ap- 
pearance of  their  wives  and  children.  It  is  an  old  saw  that  if 
you  want  to  know  what  a  carpenter  is,  look  at  his  chips.  Well, 
if  you  want  to  know  what  a  man  is,  look  at  his  wife,  and  if  you 
want  to  know  what  both  combined  are,  just  observe  their  chil- 
dren ;  for  God  writes  the  whole  story  ofr  their  private  lives  on 
and  in  the  bodies,  and  minds,  and  habits,  and  morals  of  the  off- 
spring He  hath  given  them.  Such  a  book  never,  never,  tells  a 
lie! 

Iu  accordance  with  the  general  mixedness,  the  most  infernal 
scamps  get  the  best  and  noblest  women  as  wives  —  only  to 
gradually  kill  them  and  send  their  sweet  souls  to  heaven  across 
lots,  and  long  before  their  time !  while  the  very  best  men  living, 
somehow  or  other,  manage  to  get  yoked  to  a  mighty  long-lived, 
vinegar-visaged,  growling,  grumbling,  most  provokingest,  gad- 
aboutest,  east-windiest,  cai*eless  grade  of  women,  everyone  of 
whom  are  meaner  than  git,  and  wear  their  victims  —  four  01 
five  of  them  —  to  shreds  and  early  graves.     Yet  so  it  is. 

Few  men,  or  women  either,  are  aware  of  the  weight  of  immor- 
tality resting  on  them  ;  nor  realize  that  this  life  is  but  the  A  B 
C  of  an  immensely  broadened  existence  beyond  this  fleeting 
scum  of  years,  floating  on  the  breast  of  the  bottomless,  sideless 
ocean  of  eternity.  If  they  did,  they  would  think  twice  before 
making  marital  choices, —  a  thing  which,  if  well  made,  allies 
both  souls  to  the  immortal  Gods,  anchors  their  hopes  in  the 


WOMAN)   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  293 

heart  of  Deity ;  brings  joy  to  their  spirits,  health  and  long  life 
to  their  bodies,  and  exalts  their  destinies  after  death ;  but 
which,  if  illy  made,  lands  them  in  the  dismal  swamps  of  long- 
spun misery ;  darkens  their  prospects ;  ruins  their  health ; 
peoples  the  world  with  ruffians ;  elevates  the  bad ;  depresses 
the  good ;  scatters  madness  broadcast  on  every  side ;  eclipses 
the  sun  of  human  happiness ;  shuts  out  the  glowing  splendors 
of  religion  ;  belittles,  ruins  their  natures  ;  dwarfs  their  souls  ; 
poisons  their  lives,  and  renders  life  a  perpetual  torment,  immor- 
tality a  doubtful  thing ;  and  utter  annihilation  as  a  means  of 
escape,  a  thing  to  be  most  ardently  desired ;  for,  as  marriage 
now  is,  the  appropriate  inscription  above  the  altars  might 
well  be 

"^fcanticm  p?ope,  all  %z  fofjo  enter  ijere," 

Nature  evidently  intended  that  every  wedded  pair  should  be 
a  unit ;  but,  in  these  da3rs,  one  would  conclude  they  were  at 
least  half-a-dozen,  with  a  tomcat  snare-drum  and  cymbals 
thrown  in,  judging  from  the  almost  incessant  wrangles,  tangles, 
jangles,  mutual  fangles,  and  not  infrequent  bodily  mangles, 
too,  which  illustrate  the  sublime  relation. 

All  this  comes  from  the  get-married-in-a-hurry  custom  of  the 
country,  and  when  each  really  knows  as  much  about  the  other, 
as  they  do  of  the  man  in  the  moon,  or  of  the  hero  who  extended 
his  hand  till  it  contacted  the  occiput  of  Mr.  William  Patterson. 
Said  a  late  writer  :  — 

"  The  love  of  a  boy  differs  from  that  of  a  man  in  this  :  it  is  the  wanton 
enjoyment  of  a  present  imperious  feeling,  from  which  all  serious  consid- 
eration of  the  future  is  excluded.  It  is  mere  blind  activity  of  newly 
awakened  emotions.  Hence  the  rashness  of  early  loves.  The  boy  wants 
to  love ;  almost  any  woman  will  suffice.  Hence  he  is  violent,  capricious, 
inconstant,  because  he  only  seeks  an  excitement;  he  tries  his  young 
wings.  The  tender  feeling  of  protection,  which  enters  so  largely  into  the 
love  of  the  man ;  the  serious  thoughts  of  the  duties  he  owes  to  the  girl  who 
gives  up  her  life  to  him,  and  to  the  children  she  may  bear  him,  —  these, 
and  the  thousand  minute,  but  powerful  influences  which  affect  the  man, 
are  unknown  to  the  boy." 


294  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE. 

Another,  playing  in  the  same  strain,  remarks  :  — 

"  A  young  man  meets  a  pretty  face  in  a  ball-room,  falls  in  love  with  it, 
courts  it,  marries  it,  goes  to  house-keeping  with  it,  and  boasts  of  having  a 
home  and  a  wife  to  grace  it.  The  chances  are,  nine  to  ten,  that  he  has 
neither.  He  has  been  '  taken  in  and  done  for  2 '  Her  pretty  face  gets  to 
be  an  old  story,  or  becomes  faded,  or  freckled,  or  fretted ;  and  as  the  face 
was  all  he  wanted,  all  he  paid  attention  to,  all  he  sat  up  with,  all  he  bar- 
gained for,  all  he  swore  to  love,  honor,  and  protect,  he  gets  sick  of  his 
trade,  knows  of  a  dozen  faces  he  likes  better,  gives  up  staying  at  home 
evenings,  consoles  himself  with  cigars,  oysters,  and  politics,  and  looks 
upon  his  home  as  a  very  indifferent  boarding-house. 

"  A  family  of  children  grows  up  about  him ;  but  neither  he  nor  his 
1  face  '  knows  anything  about  training  them,  so  they  come  up  helter-skel- 
ter; made  toys  of  when  babies,  dolls  when  boys  and  girls,  drudges  when 
men  and  women ;  and  so  passes  year  after  year,  and  not  one  quiet,  happy, 
homely  hour  known  throughout  the  whole  household. 

"  Another  young  man  becomes  enamored  of  a  '  fortune.'  He  waits  upon 
it  to  parties,  dances  the  polka  with  it,  exchanges  hillet-doux  with  it,  pops 
the  question  to  it,  gets  accepted  by  it,  takes  it  to  the  parson,  weds  it,  calls 
it  '  wife,'  carries  it  home,  sets  up  an  establishment  with  it,  introduces  it  to 
his  friends,  and  says  he,  too,  is  married  and  has  got  a  home.  It  is  false. 
He  is  not  married ;  he  has  no  home.  And  he  soon  finds  it  out.  He  is  in 
the  wrong  box ;  but  it  is  too  late  to  get  out  of  it ;  he  might  as  well  hope  to 
get  out  of  his  coffin.  His  friends  congratulate  him,  and  he  has  to  grin  and 
bear  it.  They  praise  the  house,  the  furniture,  the  cradle,  the  new  Bible, 
and  bid  the  '  fortune,'  and  he  who  husbands  it,  good-morning.  As  if  he 
had  known  a  good-morning  since  he  and  that  gilded  fortune  were  declared 
to  be  one. 

"  Take  another  case.  A  young  woman  is  smitten  with  a  pair  of  whis- 
kers. Curled  hair  never  before  had  such  charms.  She  sets  her  cap  for 
them  ;  they  take.  The  delighted  whiskers  make  an  offer,  proffering  them- 
selves both  in  exchange  for  one  heart.  My  dear  miss  is  overcome  with 
magnanimity,  closes  the  bargain,  carries  home  the  prize,  shows  it  to  pa 
and  ma,  calls  herself  engaged  to  it,  thinks  there  never  was  such  a  pair  of 
whiskers  before,  and  in  a  few  weeks  they  are  married.  Married!  Yes, 
the  world  calls  it  so,  and  so  we  will.  What  is  the  result?  A  short  honey- 
moon, and  then  the  discovery  that  they  are  as  unlike  as  chalk  and  cheese, 
and  not  to  be  made  one,  though  all  the  priests  in  Christendom  pronounced 
them  so." 

And  still  another,  singing  to  the  same  tune  :  — 

"The banes  of  domestic  life  are  littleness,  falsity,  vulgarity,  harshness, 
scolding,  vociferation,  an  incessant  issuing  of   superfluous  prohibition* 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  295 

and  orders,  which  are  regarded  as  impertinent  interferences  with  the  gen- 
eral liberty  and  repose,  and  are  provocative  of  rankling  or  exploding  re- 
sentments. The  blessed  antidotes  that  sweeten  and  enrich  domestic  life 
are  refinement,  high  aims,  great  interests,  soft  voices,  quiet  and  gentle 
manners,  magnanimous  tempers,  forbearance  from  all  unnecessary  com- 
mands or  dictation,  and  generous  allowances  of  mutual  freedom.  Love 
makes  obedience  lighter  than  liberty.  Man  wears  a  noble  allegiance  — 
not  as  a  collar,  but  as  a  garland.  The  Graces  are  never  so  lovely  as  when 
seen  waiting  on  the  Virtues ;  and  where  they  thus  dweli  together  they 
make  a  heavenly  home." 

And  Curtis,  with  what  an  ocean  of  truth  :  — 

"  I  think  of  many  and  many  a  sad-eyed  woman  I  have  known  in  solitary 
country  homes  who  seemed  never  to  have  smiled,  who  struggled  with  hard 
hands  through  the  melting  heat  and  pinching  cold,  to  hold  back  poverty 
and  want  that  hovered  like  wolves  about  an  ever-increasing  flock  of 
children.  How  it  was  scour  in  the  morning,  and  scrub  at  night  and  scold 
all  day  long !  How  care  blurred  the  window  like  a  cloud,  hiding  the 
lovely  landscape !  How  anxiety  snarled  at  her  heels,  dogging  her  like  a 
cur !  How  little  she  knew  or  cared  that  bobolinks,  drunk  with  blind  idle- 
ness, tumbled  and  sang  in  the  meadows  below,  that  the  earth  was  telling 
the  time  of  year  with  flowers,  in  the  woods  above  !  As  I  think  of  these 
things,  of  the  solitary,  incessant  drudgery,  of  the  taciturn  husband  coming 
in  heavy  with  sleep,  —  too  weary  to  read,  to  talk,  to  think,  —  I  do  not  won- 
der that  the  mad-houses  are  so  richly  recruited  from  the  farm-houses,  as  the 
statistics  show — that  the  farmer's  daughters  hang  enchanted  over  stories 
in  the  weekly  paper  of  the  handsome  Edward  Augustus,  with  white  hands 
and  black  eyes  —  nor  that  the  farmer's  son  hears  the  city  bells  that  long 
ago  rang  to  Whittington,  'Turn  again,  Whittington,  Lord  Mayor  of  Lon- 
don,' ringing  to  him  as  he  pauses  in  the  furrow,  '  Turn  again,  ploughboy, 
millionnaire,  and  merchant ! '" 


29G  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND  MARRIAGE. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

"Thus  sang  a  lover  by  the  blue  wave, 
While  the  deep  surges  symphony  gave ; 
Woman's  truth  trusting  I  yielded  all, 
Giving  up  senses  into  her  thrall ! 

"  Glass  not  so  brittle,  fleeting  as  mist, 
False  were  the  red  lips  mine  fondly  kissed ; 
Cold  as  the  marble  over  a  grave, 
Fickle  as  sunlight  gilding  the  wave. 

"  Wandering  ever,  searching  in  vain, 
Seeks  betrayed  lover  ease  for  his  pain." 

Tue  love  of  the  modern  girl  of  the  period,  trained  and  badly 
educated  as  she  is,  as  well  as  by  the  frightful  examples  set  be- 
fore her  by  her  elders,  —  who  ought  to  know  better,  —  is  a  very 
dangerous  and  uncertain  thing  to  deal  with,  because  so  very 
superficial,  cranky,  backboneless,  mincing,  unthinking,  quasi- 
sentimental,  and  rose-waterish.  It  amounts  to  but  very  little  at 
the  best,  won't  do  for  a  permanent  investment,  or  to  tie  to,  par- 
ticularly if  there's  rough  seas,  financially,  to  be  sailed  over,  or 
a  difficult  road  to  travel.  When  such  a  girl  marries,  very  often 
her  beautiful  dream  is  broken,  and  her  lily-like  hopes  crushed  to 
flinders  and  forever,  within  four-and-twenty  hours  after  her 
thoughtless  "  I  will,"  at  the  altar.  This  comes  from  two  causes, 
one  mental,  the  other  wholly  material,  for  that  which  such  a 
girl  inspires  is  seldom  profound  or  tender  affection,  but  rather  a 
wild,  imperious,  passional  ardor,  falling  before  the  storms  of 
which  she  is  lost  forever.  Because  there's  no  element  of  pity 
in  the  love  she  gets,  but  rather  the  element  of  ferocity ;  for  ten 
to  one  that  the  groom  turns  out  to  be  not  a  man,  but  a  "  rumi- 
nant quadruped  of  the  genus  capra,"  only  that  it  goes  on  two 
legs  instead  of  four,  chews  tobacco  instead  of  the  cud,  and 
swallows  his  horns  instead  of  wearing  them.  "  Did  you  say 
goat?"     No;  what  made  you  guess  so  correctly ? 

Such  "  marriages  "  and  such  results  are   fifty  thousand-fold 


woman;  love,  and  marriage.  297 

every  week  in  the  whole  blessed  year.  Heavens !  It  makes 
one  angry  and  the  blood  to  boil  to  think  of  the  brutalisms  per- 
petrated in  the  name  of  sanctified  wedlock.  Sanctified?  Not 
much,  in  these  days,  wherein  a  forthcoming  consummation  of 
that  sort  is  heralded  weeks  beforehand,  just  as  a  butcher  an- 
nounces that  on  such  or  such  a  day, he  intends  to  kill  a  fat  pig, 
or  prize  ox!  And  when  the  day  arrives  the  pair  are  duly 
paraded,  and  the  groom  shows  off  his  bride's  best  points,  as  he 
would  his  fast  horse's,  and  he  gives  and  receives  sundry  sly 
pokes  in  the  ribs,  and  looks  knowing,  and  winks  gravely  at  his 
men,  who  wink  back  at  him,  and  smile  and  smirk  wisely,  —  as 
the  sacrifice  —  if  it  be  such!  —  is  being  led  to  the  "altar;" 
after  which  they  hold  a  reception  for  an  hour  or  two,  make 
another  parade,  enter  a  coach,  the  driver  of  which  well  knows 
41  what's  up,"  and  makes  his  horses  go  slowly  so  as  to  lengthen 
out  his  delicious  misery.  Previous  to  this  the  best  man  has 
engaged  the  "  bridal  chamber  "  on  the  steamboat ;  and  of  course 
all  the  officers,  down  to  the  scullion,  and  all  the  passengers  too, 
quickly  learn  "  what's  up."  And  by  and  by  the  twain  go  to 
supper,  —  the  tables  near  which  they  sit  being  crowded  with 
feasters  on  the  viands  —  and  the  pair;  and  the  bland  gentle- 
men from  Africa  vie  with  each  other  in  handing  nice  things  to 
the  couple,  for  they,  too,  take  exquisite  delight  in  knowing 
1  what's  up  "  also.  And  then,  after  they  have  retired  to  the 
"  bridal  chamber,"  scores  of  curious  people,  arm  in  arm,  wander 
up  and  down  the  stately  saloon,  or  linger  near  the  charmed 
door,  still  asking  each  other  as  before,  what's  up?  Next  day, 
and  for  two  weeks  longer  at  the  hotel,  where  there's  another 
"  bridal  chamber,"  the  same  morbid  air  prevails ;  and  then 
they  go  back  home  to  continue  a  life,  which,  beginning  badly, 
may,  and  probably  will,  end  worse.  All  this  sort  of  thing  needs 
changing,  for  it  don't  look  well  to  see  a  man  act  in  that  style 
toward  the  woman  whom  he  claims  to  "  love,"  and  whom  he 
certainly  ought,  but,  infamously,  does  not  respect ! 

Flavel,  the  philosophic,  says  :  — 

"  The  soul  and  body  are  as  springs  of  two  musical  instru- 
ments, set  exactly  at  one  height ;  if  one  be  touched  the  other 


298  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

trembles.  They  laugh  and  cry,  are  sick  and  well  together. 
Yet  how  few  men  think  of  that  as  they  listen  to  the  words 
which  consigns  God's  masterpiece  to  their  keeping ! "  — All  that 
Flavel  says  is  triply  true  of  the  mystical  thing  called  marriage, 
—  that  strange  dual  unity  through  whose  agency  the  overarch- 
ing heavens  are  peopled  with  deathless  souls.  And  yet  how 
many  myriads  rush  foolishly  into  it,  without  a  single  sober 
thought,  as  if  it  were  but  an  evanescent  dream,  or  a  temporary 
stay  at  the  fountains  of  paradise  ! 

The  institution  is  used  for  lowly  ends,  and  only  a  small 
minority  strive  to  make  it  a  haven  of  rest  and  peace  and  ever- 
springing  happiness,  ever  rising  skyward  under  the  divine 
impulsion  of  purity  and  reason,  those  tidal  waves  of  blessed- 
ness ! 

Married  people  generally  are,  after  the  first  three  months, 
very  slow  in  developing  either  the  capacity  of  being  pleased 
with  each  other,  or  what  each  other  does  or  says,  or  the  deter- 
mination to,  come  what  may,  look  at  the  bright  side,  and  make 
the  most  of  circumstances,  whatever  they  may  be.  Were  this 
the  common  habit  of  life,  there  would  be  fewer  rough  knolls  to 
stumble  over  in  the  journey ;  when  years  whitened  their  heads 
both  would  hold  fast  and  cherish  what  gladdened  them  in  youth, 
and  the  kindly  feeling  would  grow  stronger  and  more  solid ;  for 
we  all  love  with  greater  purity  and  steadier  power,  after  the  gusts 
of  passion  have  swept  by  us,  than  it  was  possible  to  before. 
We  are  all  born  with  a  void  in  the  heart,  aching  to  be  filled ; 
and  it  never  can  be  if  our  mates  only  notice  our  dark  and  weak 
sides,  find  fault  continually,  and,  noting  all  our  failings,  with 
almost  scientific  precision  and  regularity,  never  give  a  word 
of  encouragement,  hope  or  goodly  cheer. 

Habitual  thoughtless  carelessness  of  our  conduct  towards  our 
life-mates  —  wives  especially  —  blunts  every  moral  sense  in 
both.  People  have  enough  to  contend  with  in  the  world,  and 
the  natural  worry  incident  to  existence,  without  being  com- 
pelled to  put  up  with  wholly  unreasonable  whims,  oddities  and 
foolish  airs  from  those  who  ought  to  know  better  than  to  put 
them  on,  and  which  ought  to  be  laid  aside  forever.     In  the  case 


woman;  love,  and  marriage.  299 

of  wives  it  is  doubly  hard,  because,  in  addition  to  their  natural 
weakness,  the  majority  are  extremely  sensitive  to  climatic 
changes,  varying  their  health  and  moods  just  as  the  electrical 
and  other  atmospheric  mutations  occur.  If  the  east  wind 
blows,  they  are  pale,  shivery,  querulous  and  oppressed.  If  the 
north  wind  blows,  they  pick  up  muscular  and  nervous  strength  ; 
but  are  less  poetical  and  beautiful,  complaisant  and  affectionate, 
than  when  the  west  wind  breathes  upon  the  earth  ;  and  even 
when  it  does,  it  is  in  a  less  degree  than  when  the  sunny  south 
wafts  its  breath  across  the  land. 

A  woman  is  a  sensitive  creature  by  reason  of  the  mission 
given  her  to  fulfil ;  and  that  mission  itself  exerts  a  tremendous 
influence  upon  her  both  during  and  after  its  grand  accomplish- 
ment. 

Men  ought  to  know  that  gestation  and  childbirth  very  often 
generate  mighty  changes,  both  in  a  woman's  nature  and  her 
moods,  —  sometimes  even  a  species  of  madness,  insanity,  un- 
reasonableness of  conduct  and  demeanor ;  and  it  is  very  often 
the  ending  of  one  mode  of  life,  and  the  beginning  of  a  new 
one ;  for  it  often  happens  that  the  reaction  from  a  prior  state 
brings  on  a  forgetfulness  of  past  modes,  moods,  and  phases  of 
life,  and  lays  the  broad  foundations  of  an  entirely  new  set  of 
experiences. 

In  these  days  of  lightning  life  things  are  hastily  done,  and 
bitterly  regretted  ;  and  many  marriages  are  simply  a  contest 
between  a  feminine  soul  and  brute  force,  and  brute  force  wins 
the  day  in  most  cases,  if  we  are  to  judge  by  the  myriad  green 
grassy  graves  of  wives  prematurely  dead  and  buried.  But, 
when  wedlock  comes  to  be  what  it  ought  to,  and  will,  in  time, 
—  a  long  time,  —  we  shall  see,  let  us  hope  and  believe,  a  far 
better  state  of  things  ;  and  such  true  and  pure,  healthful,  well- 
appointed,  therefore  happy  marriages  as  shall  make  longing 
hearts  to  shout  for  joy,  and  all  the  heavenly  arches  ring. 
Therefore,  let  us  hurry  up  the  good  time,  and  abolish  forever 
that  bad  state  of  things  wherein  husbands  are  lords  paramount 
and  tyrants,  and  women  bounden  slaves.     Already  the  good  is 


300  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE. 

making  inroads  on  the  ill ;    and,  while  the  skies  grow  gently 
brighter,  lo  !  the  hopeful  bells  are  ringing  ! 

All  hail  that  glad  time  wherein  men  will  seek  for  wives,  not 
mere  shows  and  beautiful  dolls ;  and  wherein  people  shall 
marry  for  love,  not  for  weal  or  woe,  as  now ;  for  a  great  many 
now  wed  for  weal  with  a  V  and  some  crusts  of  bread,  —  the 
whole  proving  rather  hard  feed  to  most  who  partake  thereof; 
for  there's  a  heavy  lot  of  woe,  but  very  small  rations  of  weal. 

We  are  all  here  in  the  very  early  spring-time  of  existence, 
although  but  comparatively  few  of  us  realize  the  fact,  or  that 
pretty  soon  we  shall  reach  a  point  whence  exceedingly  strange 
and  long  journej's  by  immortal  and  disbodied  express  are  before 
us ;  and,  hence,  that  it  won't  do  to  clog  the  wheels  in  this  early 
stage  of  the  infinite  travel,  which  we  all  do,  more  or  less,  by  not 
taking  care  of  ourselves  and  each  other,  and  by  wasting  the  oil 
of  life  too  soon.  Why  travel  in  the  dark,  when  the  sun  shines 
brightly  to  light  us  on  our  deathless  way? 

A  man  must  be  appreciated  by  the  woman  he  husbands,  else 
life's  a  bitter  failure  to  him,  because  nothing  on  earth  is  dearer 
to  a  man,  worn  by  the  toil,  and  disheartened  by  the  hypocrisy 
of  the  world,  than  the  deep  and  storm-proof  friendship  of  a 
dear,  pure,  good  woman,  and  especially  if  that  woman  is  his 
wife.  Such  a  friendship  is  a  heaven  upon  earth,  and  one  which 
every  man  ought  to  strive  to  build  up,  and  every  wife  extend. 

Particularly  is  such  a  friendship  needed  by  literary  men,  who, 
to  the  world,  are  simply  a  sort  of  lions  on  exhibition.  They 
have  many  protestations  of  friendship,  especially  when  sailing 
on  a  smooth  sea,  with  the  wind  abaft  the  beam ;  but,  when 
storms  begin  to  blow,  Mister  Friend  very  generally  comes  up 
missing ;  at  the  very  critical  moment  when  friendship  counts 
most,  if  it  counts  at  all,  as  a  general  thing,  protesting,  urgent 
friends  are  always  friendly,  excepting  and  nearly  always,  when 
friends  are  mostly  needed. 

Only  when  we  truly  love  can  we  be  truly  great. 

Although  the  world  denounces  those  who  are  strongly  amor- 
ous, yet  to  those  very  men  and  women  is  that  identical  world 
indebted  for  the  best  thoughts  ever  current  on  its  tides  in  pol- 


WOMAK,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  301 

isbed  lines  or  flowing  verse.  And  may  Heaven  help  him  or  her 
who  has  not  that  appetite  and  power  keenly  set  and  strong ! 

The  trouble  lies,  not  in  its  use,  but  in  its  perversion  and 
abuse.  Correct  these  two,  and  this  will  be  a  glorious  world  to 
live  in,  filled  with  glorious  men  and  women,  whose  splendor 
will  be  natural,  not,  as  now,  mainly  dependent  upon  the  dress- 
maker's art,  the  druggist's  wares,  or  the  meretricious  accom- 
plishments at  present  in  vogue  ;  but  we  shall  see  the  sex  in  all 
the  superlative  glories  natural  to  her,  but  now  buried  too  deep 
for  a  general  resurrection  in  these  days.  Man  will  vie  with  her, 
too,  in  that  better  and  more  hopeful  time ;  for  then,  even  in 
New  England,  we  should  see  full-browed,  generous,  portly  men, 
instead  of  the  semi-opaque,  slab-sided,  lean,  lank,  long,  and 
hungry-looking,  lucre-grasping  set  of  apologies  for  men  we 
now  encounter  everywhere  within  her  borders,  —  men  who  look 
as  if  their  parents  had  been  casting  up  ledgers  and  daj'-books 
during  their  generation  and  gestation ;  and  as  if  themselves 
were  desperately  intent  upon  following  in  their  footsteps  for- 
ever and  forever  more.  God  save  us  all  from  a  heaven  filled 
with  such  saints  as  such  sinners  will  undoubtedly  make  !  Spas- 
modic, jerky,  slab-sided  saints,  in  a  money-grasping,  speculat- 
ing paradise,  from  which  may  we  all  be  safely  delivered ! 

There  is  not  a  spot  on  the  broad,  green  earth  where  so  many 
infractions  of  the  love  laws,  to  the  acre,  or  square  yard,  occur 
as  in  New  England  ;  while  as  for  Boston  it  can,  in  that  respect, 
give  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  ay,  even  Nero's  Rome  itself,  or 
Chicago  either,  large  odds,  go  a  great  deal  better,  and  call  and 
see  the  best  of  tbem,  or  the  worst.  The  causes  are  elsewhere 
stated. 

He  or  she  who  is  full  of  love  is  master  of  hearts,  or  mistress 
of  souls ;  and  their  power  over  people  is  a  proof  direct  that 
love  and  it  alone  is  the  fountain  of  power,  and  the  bread  of 
true  life. 

There  is  something  awfully  prophetic,  and  sublime  beyond 
degree,  in  real,  pure,  genuine  love.  It  is  the  key  which  un- 
locks all  mystery.  It  is  the  golden  hinge  upon  which  swing  the 
massive  gates  of  the  vast  eternity  !     It  is  the  verbum  myrtficum, 


302  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

—  the  word  of  power,  at  sound  of  which  all  Heaven  is  wrapt  in 
silence,  while  myriad  seraphs  gather  round  to  listen  to  the  tran- 
scendent story  !  It  is  the  king-motive  in  the  breast  of  God,  and 
the  prime  motor  of  his  vast  universe  !  Time,  to  love,  is  a  fleet- 
ing phantorama,  a  fleeting  second,  for  the  soul  which  really,  truly 
loves,  dons  wings  wherewith  it  is  enabled  to  sweep  the  plains  of 
immensity  at  a  single  stroke  of  its  magic  pinions,  and  at  abound, 
as  it  were,  dares  take  its  rightful  stand  hard  by  the  throne  of 
omnipotent,  eternal  God ! 

The  use  of  love  consists  in  increasing  the  sum  total  of  human 
happiness,  through  its  several  sacred  rituals,  when  all  things 
indicate  a  fitness.  Its  abuse  consists  in  over-tasking  nature, 
and  forcing  her  generous  energies. 

Where  amative  love  exists  not,  is  very  feeble  or  lost  altogether, 
discord  and  distraction  enter  the  mansion,  pitch  affection,  peace, 
quiet,  trust,  genialty,  out  of  the  window,  and  introduce  in  their 
places  envy,  malice,  distrust,  jealousy,  deceit,  bicker,  and  con- 
tention, a  hell-brood  of  seven  as  infernal  spirits  as  ever  left  the 
pit  for  a  gala-day  on  earth. 

When  common  sense,  amatively,  restores  the  function,  the 
way  these  harpies  disperse  is  quite  surprising.  Love,  like  mu- 
sic has  many  degrees,  notes,  and  octaves.  Illustration  :  There 
lies  the  violin,  whereon  the  writer  sometimes  wakes  the  sympho- 
nies after  his  dull  fashion.  See,  here  come  three  of  his  friends. 
"Good-morning,  doctor!"  "Good  morning,  gentlemen!" 
"  Ah !  a  fiddle,  I  see  !  "  says  the  first  —  the  stupid  !  —  to  call  the 
darling  Katarina  a  fiddle  —  the  sweet  Cremona,  worth  more 
golden  ounces  than  he  is  worth  farthings  —  the  wretch  !  But 
he  sticks  to  it  that  she  is  a  fiddle.  He  takes  her  up ;  plays 
what  might,  at  a  pinch,  pass  for  a  tune  —  such  airs  !  fatal  to  all 
bovine  females  !  "  Stop  !  stop  !  for  God's  sake  !  "  her  owner 
cries.  He  looks  astonished  and  obeys.  And  now  the  next  man 
tries  her  quality.  What  a  difference  !  He  plays,  and  his  music 
has  collected  a  great  throng  under  the  office  window,  every  one 
of  whom  feels  the  notes  go  into  their  ears  and  come  out  at  their 
heels,  a  dance-compelling  whirl  of  good  feeling.     He  ceases  to 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AXD    MARRIAGE.  303 

play  —  on  Katarina  —  and  the  crowd  ;  whereupon  the  third  man 
takes  her  up, —  the  darling  with  a  pine  belly!  This  one  plays 
no  stated  tune,  but  just  expresses  his  soul  in  random  phrases  ; 
but  somehow  or  other  his  tones  enter  the  souls  of  his  auditors. 
His  every  note  is  a  shaft  of  feeling ;  under  its  spell  each  hearer 
becomes  tame,  holy,  patriotic,  religious  and  subdued.  Full  many 
a  tear  rolls  down  furrowed  cheeks  ;  many  a  heart  palpitates  be- 
neath the  emotional  tide  ;  and  every  one  feels  that  he  is  born  to 
a  high  and  magnificent  destiny  ! 

Said  an  acquaintance,  in  connection  with  this  thought,  "  The 
human  soul,  eveiywhere,  in  the  humblest  walks  of  life,  as  well 
as  in  the  highest  society  of  the  wealthy,  has  the  longing  for  the 
emotional, —  what  will  inspire  it;  raise  it  above  its  common  self. 
Some  find  it  in  the  divine  tones  of  the  orator,  the  electricity 
powerfully  surging  from  the  pages  of  a  good  book ;  the  spell 
that  flows  in  the  undulating  harmony  of  lyre  and  voice.  Others 
seek  and  find  it  in  various  phases  and  forms  of  holy  religion ; 
but  alas  !  too  many  seek  it  from  that  attractive  but  damning 
source,  the  intoxicating  cup  ;  —  under  the  power  of  which  the 
mind  soars  at  the  expense  and  destruction  of  the  body.  Hence 
the  man  whose  circumstances  prevent  his  enjoying  the  intoxica- 
tions of  taste  and  art,  if  impelled  by  that  longing  common  to 
true  manhood,  rushes  into  excesses  to  satisfy  this  craving,  does 
but  assert  his  natural  equality  to  the  purest  man  that  a  common 
Father  ever  created.  The  duty  of  society  '  in  the  good  time 
coming,'  is  to  place  within  the  reach  of  all  the  means  of  enno- 
bling and  strengthening  emotion  or  aesthetic  intoxication,  by 
free  music,  free  libraries,  free  art  galleries,  free  fountains  and 
free  baths,"  and  everything  except  free  love,  adds  Casca  Llanna. 
Every  one  of  us  is  like  that  violin,  but  many  of  us  are  treated 
like  fiddles  \>y  those  who  ought  to  know  better.  No  tongue  can 
tell,  no  pen  describe,  but  souls  and  hearts  only,  can  feel,  the  in- 
tense music  latent  in  us,  and  awaiting  to  be  evoked  and  called 
out  by  the  right  handling  of  the  strings  and  bow ! 

As  times  go,  but  few  experience  as  deep  joy  thrills  after,  as 
before,  the  first  three  months  of  wedded  life ;  except  after  one 
party  returns  from  a  long  journey.     Then,  love  for  a  time  is 


304  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

tempestuous,  but  soon  subsides  into  a  dreadful  calm,  —  till  the 
next  return  from  another  journey  !  —  a  calm  of  the  exceedingly 
dead  sort  too.  Now  there  is  no  good  reason  why  married  love 
should  not  increase  from  its  morning  until  death  seals  it.  Love 
generally,  like  a  good  fish-pole,  grows  small  by  degrees,  and 
horribly  less.  This  follows  because  married  people  wear  them- 
selves out  too  soon,  and  fret  their  very  lives  away,  and  for  this 
reason  saloons  and  brothels  flourish  like  green  bay-trees.  Far 
too  many  of  us  — 

"  Give  every  appetite  too  loose  a  rein, 
Push  every  pleasure  to  the  verge  of  pain," 

and  suffer  the  inevitable  consequences. 

Pleasure  owes  its  greatest  zest  to  anticipation.  The  promise 
of  a  shilling  fiddle  will  keep  a  school-boy  in  happiness  for 
months.  The  fun  connected  with  its  enjoyment  will  expire  in 
an  hour.  What  is  true  of  school-boys  is  equally  true  of  men. 
All  they  differ  in  is  the  price  of  their  fiddles.  But  married  life 
is  not  a  fiddle ;  it  is  a  magnificent  Cremona  violin.  By  the 
musical  love-principles  the  world  is  moved  to  good  or  ill.  All 
virtuous  people  may  not  be  good ;  but  all  good  people  are 
virtuous. 

The  good  man  or  woman  may  be  weak  —  tempted  till  they 
lose  self-command.  "When  tempted  it  is  the  best  policy  to  run, 
run  as  if  the  devil  was  after  you — for  he  is!  Many  a  well- 
meaner  has  played  with  the  amative  fiend  till  they  have  got 
badly  scorched,  and  then,  "  Who'd  a'  thought  it?" 

A  man  may  do  everything  but  steal,  and  yet  the  world  will 
say  he  is  virtuous.  A  woman  does  as  she  pleases  once,  and  the 
world  calls  her  desperately  depraved.  She  is  bad,  doubtless, 
but  then  she  is  judged  by  a  world  quite  discriminating,  not  at 
all  pharisaical,  hypocritical,  unjust,  dodging,  —  of  course 
not !  O  world  !  O  monstrous  world  !  We  thank  thee  for  the 
use  of  thy  spectacles,  by  means  of  which  we  are  enabled 
to  discover  that  virtue  is  physical,  that  it  dwells  not  in  the  soul, 
but  consists  wholly  in  a  cartilage,  which,  when  destroyed,  the 
soul  is  past  redemption,  and  all  the  virtues  are  non  est! 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND    MARRIAGE.  305 

Love  is  the  primum  mobile  of  human  life.  Blot  it  out  from 
human  hopes,  and  but  little  is  left  to  struggle  for.  Not  one 
man  in  ten  thousand  but  would  rather  die  than  lose  his  man- 
hood —  woman  the  same.  What  will  a  man  not  dare,  inspired 
by  love?  What  will  not  a  woman  go  through,  —  childbirth  for 
instance,  —  for  the  man  she  loves?  but  the  worst  of  it  is,  that 
many  go  through  it  for  the  men  they  hate  —  most  confoundedly 
too! 

Love  is  the  king  passion  —  over-riding  all  others  —  wealth, 
fame,  position  —  all  else.  It  rules  alike  Cuffee  or  Carlyle. 
Most  people  live  for,  struggle  and  fight  for,  and  untold  millions 
have  died  for  it ;  while  festering  hecatombs  of  human  bodies 
proclaim  its  resistless  might.  In  face  of  this  fact,  what  is  the 
use  of  whining  because  we  cannot  prevent  infractions  of  our 
laws  wherewith  we  seek  to  hedge  in  the  morals  of  the  people  ? 
It  were  far  better  to  appoint  competent  persons  in  our  schools, 
whose  office  should  be  to  enlighten  children  on  the  subject,  so 
that  they  shall  grow  up  masters  of  their  passions,  instead  of 
being  mastered  by  them.  Nor  would  it  be  a  bad  idea  to  have 
fewer  vindictive  punishments  for  sins  whereof  fathers  and 
mothers  are  quite  as  responsible  as  the  sons  and  daughters  who 
err  and  are  punished  therefor. 

Amativeness  wields  a  greater  power  as  a  motor  than  anything 
else  on  earth.  Friendship,  hatred,  wealth,  fame,  place,  position 
and  ambition,  have  been  sacrificed  for  its  sake,  more  times  than 
there  are  stars  in  the  sky.  Many  a  one  has  fallen  before  its 
gigantic  strength,  even  in  the  knowledge  that  to  do  so  was  to  risk 
imprisonment,  and  even  death  itself.  In  view  of  this  resistless 
fact,  the  question  before  the  world  to-day  is,  not  how  to  stop 
this  forceful  engine,  or  cripple  its  energies,  but  how  best  to 
render  it  orderly,  to  place  it  on  the  right  track,  and  cause  it  to 
move  along  unpervertedly  ;  for  there  can  be  no  question  that 
it,  when  thus  reined,  is  the  source  and  spring  of  the  most  ex- 
quisite joy  earth  can  bestow  ;  and  if  we  still  be  human  after 
death,  it,  in  a  regenerated  form  and  sense,  will  doubtless  con- 
stitute one  of  our  sources  of  bliss  on  the  other  side  of  time. 

How  any  sane  man  can  endure,  much  less  procure,  the  services 


306  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

of  a  professional  wanton,  is  inexplicable.  Such  desecrations 
of  the  human  being  is  the  evil  of  evils  of  the  world  to-day  ;  and 
that  the  consequences  are  to  be  reaped  on  both  shores  of  eter- 
nity is  as  true  as  that  God  guides  the  suns  in  their  course 
through  space.  Man  will  fearlessly  brave  death  in  any  form, 
reap  garlands  of  fame  on  gory  fields,  and  shrink  never  an  inch 
before  the  storm  of  lead  and  iron  hail,  the  clash  of  murder- 
forged  steel,  the  thundering  of  martial  squadrons  ;  he  may  face 
all  this  unmoved,  and  yet  put  that  man  before  a  pretty  woman, 
and  were  he  forty  thousand  Caesars  condensed  into  one,  she 
will  storm  his  strongholds,  dismantle  his  batteries,  route  his 
garrisons,  and  make  him  strike  his  colors  before  he  can  fairly 
say  "  Jack  Robinson." 

All  men  do  not  believe  in  a  God,  but  do  believe  strongly  in 
woman.  All  men  are  not  interested  in  politics  or  religion,  but 
all  are  interested  in  woman.  Earthquakes,  the  roar  of  battle, 
the  tempest's  howl,  have  not  terrors  equal  to  unmanning  him ; 
he  may  flinch  and  tremble,  but  only  to  stand  firmer  afterwards  ; 
but  a  woman  will  in  ten  minutes  reduce  him  to  the  consistency 
of  cup-custard  !  Ambition  and  glory  may  beckon  him,  and  he 
may  prove  invulnerable,  but  let  one  of  those  women,  with  a 
devil  in  her  eye,  once  get  fairly  alongside  of  him,  and  lo !  she 
twists  our  gentleman  around  her  finger,  "just  as  easy  !  "  foi 
before  the  blandishments  of  a  shrewd  woman,  or  one  who  has 
tapped  the  fountains  of  his  love,  the  strong. man  becomes  as 
clay  in  the  potter's  hand  ;  as  many  a  Delilah  or  Millwood  has 
proven  to  the  cost  of  many  a  Samson  or  Barnwell  ere  now. 
Quite  as  many  men,  married  and  single,  are  bilked,  deceived, 
ruined  by  the  women,  as  the  reverse  of  the  case  ;  only  the  world 
hears  of  the  latter,  but  no  newspaper  tells  of  breaking  hearts 
under  male  breast-bones.  While  nearly  every  one  listens  to 
and  believes  the  story  of  a  woman,  even  the  most  perjured 
harlot,  no  one  pities  the  male  victim  of  a  female  victor ;  and 
this  arises  from  the  self-same  morbid  amativeness  now  desolat- 
ing the  world  in  so  many  other  respects. 

Some  one  spoke  of  woman  being  the  "  weaker  "  vessel.  "  Call 
a  woman  weak,"  said  another ;  "  By  the  Eternal !  she  is  stronger 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE.  307 

than  man  any  clay  !  She  moves  the  world,  pulls  the  wires,  and 
makes  everything  dance  and  wriggle  as  she  pleases  !  She  has 
done  it  from  the  first  day,  for  Adam  successfully  resisted  apples, 
hunger  and  the  devil ;  but  no  sooner  did  Eve  join  the  enemy 
than  he  knocked  under."  And  there  is  a  great  deal  of  homely 
truth  in  the  observation. 

Once  there  was  a  pilgrim  who  wrote  a  letter  to  the  sage  Benred- 
din  Eii,  a  philosopher  of  the  rare  school  of  Nommoc  Esnes, 
desiring  certain  information.  In  reply,  the  sage  wrote  back  the 
following  letter,  dated  from  the  Valley  of  Content :  Season  of 
Flowers :  — 

Pilgrim :  —  Thy  letter  is  before  me.  I  salute  thee.  It  is 
difficult  to  convey  in  thy  cold  language  of  the  West  the  flow- 
ing maxims  of  the  Orient ;  yet,  as  our  motto  is  "  Try,"  I  shall 
essay  the  task. 

First.  The  wife.  She  ought  to  be  sacred  in  thine  eyes  while 
she  giveth  suck.  This  caution  neglected  once  is  bad  ;  if  often, 
then  thou,  thy  babe,  and  its  mother  will  not  smack  the  lips  of 
health  or  gladness ;  for  if  the  flame  of  her  love  for  thee  burneth 
fiercely  even  once,  the  love,  —  physical  love,  for  it  waxeth  dull 
and  dieth  out ;  and  thou  and  she  will,  for  thy  folly,  train  up  a 
weakly,  but  precocious  babe,  and  thou  wilt  hug  the  phantom  of 
remorse  and  ride  the  nightmare  of  heavy  sorrow. 

Second.  But  be  thou  true  and  just,  and  together  thou  mayest 
ascend  the  hills  of  excellent  health,  and  drink  the  sherbet  of 
wonderful  joy. 

Third.  The  true  khanum  (wife)  despiseth  perfumes,  save 
those  which  water  giveth,  or  those  slight  odors  wherewith  she 
sprinkleth  her  garments  ;  and  then  she  useth  the  waters  of  Gul 
(roses).  It  is  the  khanum  herself,  and  not  the  chemist's  prod- 
uct, that  smelleth  grateful  to  the  lord  of  the  household !  Art 
perfumes  destroy  the  far  sweeter  airs  breathed  out  from  every 
pore  of  the  woman  whose  soul  is  full  of  love,  and  none  but  a 
Jaflaf  (cyprian)  needeth  perfumes ;  and  only  an  Abu  Jakel 
(father  of  asses)  can  endure  either  ! 

Fourth.  Allah  be  praised  !  fresh  air  beautifieth  the  woman, 
and  whiteneth  the  face  of  her  virtues :  it  adorneth  the  neck  of 


308  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND    MARRIAGE. 

accomplishment,  and  causeth  the  garden  of  her  mind  to  bring 
forth  the  fruitage  of  delight ;  and  if  she  and  her  husband  shall 
daily  and  freely  beat  the  air  (gymnastics  —  calisthenics)  by  the 
light  of  the  sun's  first  rays,  they  shall  find  that  Nature  hath 
spread  for  them  the  table-cloth  of  hospitality,  and  so  whetted 
the  edge  of  chaste  desire,  that  it  shall  never  more  be  dulled 
upon  the  sides  of  disappointment ;  for  the  fresh  air  imparteth 
more  than  the  wealth  of  Hatam  Tai ;  it  maketh  the  household 
bask  beneath  the  rosy  canopy  of  Contentment,  situated  in  the 
vale  of  Domestic  Bliss,  overshadowed  by  the  vine  of  Satisfac- 
tion, where  their  shadows  will  ever  increase,  and  lips  of  honeyed 
love  distil  forever  the  drops  of  purple  music,  the  ravishing  mel- 
ody of  tinkling  heai-ts  !  Therefore  let  the  Fresh  Air  bring  thee 
all  his  blessings  ;  let  him  enter  thy  chamber  by  night ;  and  ad- 
mit his  brother,  Sunshine,  by  day  ;  for  these  two  carry  healing 
on  their  wings  ;  and  health  bringeth  Beauty,  and  she  beareth  to 
thee  flowers  from  her  gardens,  showeth  Affection  the  way  to  thy 
house,  and  she  will  lead  thee  into  the  arena  of  Goodness,  and 
Goodness  is  the  father  of  Wisdom,  who  bringeth  Long  Life,  and 
long  life  beareth  the  keys  of  Paradise  !  All  these  blessed  won- 
ders dwell  upon  the  sunbeam,  and  dance  upon  the  atoms  of  the 
air! 

Fifth.  A  goose  is  the  mother  of  fools ;  alive,  she  carrieth 
great  loads  of  feathers  and  clown,  whereof  other  fools  rob  her 
and  fashion  thereof  strange  cushions  of  luxury  and  Death  ! 
The  wise  men  love  to  husband  strength,  but  fools  delight  to  waste 
it.  The  former  sleepeth  on  the  hair  of  the  stalwart  ox,  or  on 
the  bed  of  chips  or  straw  ;  but  fools  who  listen  to  the  counsels 
of  feathers  —  "  Ease  !  ease  !  "  instead  of  Health  !  Health  !  —  will 
presently  chew  the  cud  of  shame  and  weakness  beneath  the  veil 
of  their  own  folly  ;  and  such  shall  drink  patience  from  a  bowl ; 
and  it  shall  be  sweetened  with  grief  before  they  learn  to  wash 
in  the  waters  of  "Wisdom,  to  cleanse  themselves  from  the  mire 
contracted  in  their  wanderings  through  the  swamps  of  Pollution, 

ONE   OF    WHICH    EXISTS    IN   EVERY    COUCH    OF   FEATHERS  ! 

6th.  If  the  legs  of  thy  couch  resteth  upon  lumps  of  wax,  or 
squares  of  glass  (insulated),  thou  wilt  be  protected  from  the 


WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  309 

Skeevem  Pah  (nightly  flows  of  malarious  electricity),  nor 
can  the  shivering  genii  (ague)  ever  reach  thee,  especially  if 
thy  couch  standeth,  while  thou  sleepest,  away  from  the  wall  or 
in  the  centre  of  thy  chamber. 

7th.  0  husband  !  In  all  thy  wooing,  never  forget  that  thy 
mother  was  a  woman  !  See  to  it  well,  therefore,  that  thou  ever 
respectest  the  womanly  feelings  and  modesty  of  thy  wife  ;  and 
that  no  act,  tvord,  or  look  of  thine  has  the  least  tendency 
towards  breaking  down  that  delicate  barrier  of  coj^ness,  pro- 
priety, and  reserve,  which  is  the  brightest  charm  of  woman,  — 
without  which  she  may  be  liked,  but  can  never  be  loved,  honored, 
or  respected,  and  which,  like  an  eggshell,  is  very  brittle,  and, 
when  once  broken,  can  never  be  repaired. 

8th.  The  wise  husband  delighteth  in  self-control,  for  his 
wife's  sweet  sake  ;  he  forbeareth  often,  nor  presseth  his  suit  in 
seasons  of  rejection,  for  he  loveth  to  prove  himself  as  kind,  as 
manly. 

9th.  No  true  son  of  Allah  will  perform  any  solemn  business, 
or  that  may  result  in  serious  consequences,  when  weary,  or 
drunken,  or  when  he  does  not  fully  realize  the  situation  in  all 
its  multitudinous  bearings ;  or  when  angry  with  himself  or 
another ;  nor  when  he  mistakes  whim  for  power.  He  hath  no 
right  to  do  anj'thing  which  may  unfavorably  affect  the  health  or 
fate  of  others ;  nor  to  take  any  action  which  may,  except  the 
sea  of  his  nature  be  steadfast  and  calm,  and  his  affections  and 
love  are  at  high  tide.  If  he  remembereth  this  he  putteth  out 
the  fires  of  Jehanum,  kindleth  the  torch  of  paradise,  and  never 
sitteth  in  the  shadow  of  shame,  or  in  the  darkling  valley  of 
humiliation. 

10th.  No  wise  gardener  shaketh  his  pomegranate  or  apple 
tree  while  the  fruit  is  forming.  Who  can  eat  green  grapes  and 
not  suffer  for  his  folly? 

11th.  The  flower  of  thy  garden,  O  husband,  may  not  be  so 
fair  as  that  of  thy  neighbor,  but  to  thee  it  is,  or,  at  least, 
should  be,  infinitely  more  dear  and  precious ;  therefore,  watch 
over  it,  tend  it,  nurture,  cheiish,  cling  to,  guard,  protect,  love, 
and  respect  it ;    and  when  it  sees  all  thy  care,  and  feels  thy 


310  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

tenderness,  truth,  and  goodness,  it  will  upraise  its  head  in 
praise,  thankfulness,  and  love  to  thee ;  and  the  exhalations  of 
its  sweet  soul  will  be  grateful  perfume  to  the  nostrils  of  thy 
spirit.     That  flower  is  thy  ivife  I 

A  wife !  whoever  hath  a  wife 


Is  doubly  armed  'gainst  all  the  ills  of  life. 

The  sky  hath  but  one  sun,  the  earth  but  one  great  glory,  and 
that  is  —  woman !  Life,  light  and  prosperity,  joy,  mirth  and 
gladness  attend  them  both.  The  one  warmeth  man's  heart  by 
day  ;  the  other  enrieheth  his  soul  at  eventide,  and  each  exhaleth 
perfumes  sweeter  than  all  the  roses  of  Gulistan  !  The  Hakim 
may  say  "  My  physic  is  good,"  but  what  herb,  O  man,  is  equal 
to  the  touch  of  woman's  hand  ?  What  tonic  equal  to  a  single 
glance,  sent  love-beaming  from  her  eye,  to  dance  the  dance  of 
renovation  in  the  parlors  of  man's  soul  ?  What  is  spikenard  ? 
What  is  manna?  What  is  irakwek  even,  or  all  the  drugs  of 
Ind,  compared  to  the  twinkle  of  a  woman's  eyelash,  when  her 
soul  is  ripe  with  love? 

Whoso  hath  a  loving  wife  under  his  roof-tree  is  richer  than  a 
king !  What  are  the  smiles  of  courtesans  ?  what  the  embraces 
and  pressure  of  a  wanton's  arms  compared  to  the  noble  loving 
of  an  honest  wife  ?  The  husband  of  such  an  one  hath  a  specific 
for  every  ill.  Shut  up  your  Galen,  burn  your  Hippocrates,  put 
all  physicians  in  a  corner,  for  the  queen  of  them  all  is  there, 
and  lurks  in  every  loving  woman's  smile.  Who  will  take  cas- 
sia, when  an  eye  is  to  be  had?  or  writhe  under  a  blister  when  a 
loving  wife's  smile  can  heal  him  ?  Every  true  man  cherishes, 
respects  and  adores  thee,  O  woman  of  the  loving  soul,  and  the 
prayer  of  every  honest  heart  is  that  Allah  will  forgive  thee  all 
thy  faults,  and  take  thee  to  himself  at  kist,  when  all  thy  labor 
and  thy  cares  are  done.  Heaven  bless  thee,  O  woman,  increase 
all  thy  joys,  strengthen  thee  in  all  thy  perils,  and  may  thy  shadow 
never  be  less ! 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  311 


CHAPTER  XX. 

A  cunning  woman  who  has  a  man's  affections,  holds  the  long 
arm  of  the  most  powerful  lever  in  existence  ;  for  through  his  love 
—  a  love  not  of  the  Miss  Nancy,  platonic,  rosewater  sort,  but  one 
based  on  the  solid  realities  of  physical  form,  beauty,  and  adapted- 
ness,  —  the  strong  man  falls  as  powerless  as  an  infant,  and  she 
can,  if  she  wills  it,  triumphantly  lead  him  whithersoever  she 
pleases  —  elevate  him  to  the  highest  heaven,  or  plunge  him  head- 
long into  the  deepest  hell !  Such  has  been  the  history  of  life  since 
man  fell  in  love  with  the  first  woman,  and  tumbled  out  of  Eden 
in  consequence ;  and  the  likelihood  is,  that  such  will  be  the  case 
some  time  longer.     'Tis  said  that :  — 

11  Man's  love  is  of  man's  life  a  part, 
'Tis  woman's  whole  existence." 

And  just  as  long  as  her  physical  and  other  charms  are  capa- 
ble of  raising  a  tumult  beneath  his  vest,  will  he  be  at  once  her 
victim,  dupe,  and  master,  be  she  good  or  evil.  No  matter  how 
vast  his  genius,  or  great  his  talent,  no  matter  how  little  in  soul, 
ambition  or  mental  ability  she  may  be,  commencing  at  the  low- 
est or  saloonatic  grade,  or  the  Flora  la  Blonde — the  intensest 
vampire  species,  she  will,  if  she  once  gets  hold  of  his  affec- 
tions, toss  him  about  as  hurricanes  toss  trusses  of  hay  and  forest 
leaves ;  and,  unless  God  Almighty  himself  intervenes  to  save 
him,  will  ruin  and  demolish,  blast  and  demoralize  him  with  an 
ease  and  devilish  facility  absolutely  astounding,  except  to  those 
who  realize  and  know  the  fact  that  the  greater  a  man  is  in 
brain  and  heart,  the  weaker  he  is  on  affectional  points  ;  for  the 
most  colossal  mind  on  earth  is  sure  to  have  a  very  soft  spot  in 
his  heart,  and  a  far  softer  one  just  under  the  crown  of  his 
hat,  so  far  as  the  wearers  of  jupons  are  concerned.  So  genius, 
genius,  look  out  for  the  Beats  ! 

But  that  class  and  the  designing  one  aside,  the  writer,  basing 
his  opinion  upon  large  observation,  thinks — and  begs  pardon 
for  daring  to  disagree  with  some  people  —  that  almost  any  wo- 


312  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

man  will  do  well  if  well  done  by ;  and  men  the  same.  There 
are  exceptions  —  but  rare  ones.  Love,  physical  and  senti- 
mental alike,  has,  as  hath  everything  else,  its  regular  tides,  — 
tides  high,  low,  spring,  and  neap,  just  like  the  air,  sea  and 
rivers.  Those  couples  whose  feelings  toward  each  other  are 
always  on  a  dead  level,  like  a  prairie,  or  a  still  lake,  are  never 
the  happiest.  In  fact,  their  love  is  stagnant ;  they  don't  realize 
what  the  word  really  means. 

The  man  who  is  all  S}rmpathy,  who  feels  no  antipathies  or  re- 
pulsions ;  never  gets  angry  or  "  obstropulous, "  to  use  an  inele- 
gant Americanism,  who  never  feels  indignant,  passional,  ex- 
cited,—  don't  amount  to  much,  and  never  makes  a  mark  on  the 
people  or  the  times.  The  woman  who  either  feels  too  much  or 
too  little,  seldom  makes  an  enduring  wife.  Unless  love,  like  a 
landscape,  has  its  rises  and  falls  ;  like  the  sea  its  ebbs  and  flows  ; 
unless  it  has  its  petty  estrangements,  coolnesses,  and  delicious 
makings-up,  it,  like  the  pond  behind  the  barn,  is  apt  to  grow 
stagnant,  and  produce  unsightly  and  unsavory  things ;  and  at 
best  it  is  but  a  milk-and-water  affair,  having  little  of  the  honey 
of  life  to  flavor  it. 

But  whoever  takes  pains  to  nourish  and  cherish  a  tiff,  or  spat , 
and  lays  their  memory  by,  to  be  recalled  as  opportunity  offers, 
and  to  be,  like  a  bitter  cud,  chewed  at  leisure  and  perpetually 
digested,  yet  never  gotten  rid  of,  has  not  yet  learned  the  neces- 
sary lesson  of  forget  and  forgive  ;  and  is,  to  say  the  least,  not 
quite  up  to  the  Solomonic  standard  of  wisdom. 

How  suicidal  is  the  general  habit  of  having  a  pet  grievance 
all  the  time  at  hand !  Not  until  it  falls  into  desuetude  will 
pristine  Eden  be  restored,  or  summer  last  the  year  around. 

Some  one  writing  on  the  general  subject  of  this  branch  of  our 
topic  has  said,  and  well  said  too,  that :  — 

"The  first  duty  of  husbands  is  to  sympathize  with  their  wives  in  all  their 
cares  and  labors.  Men  are  apt  to  forget,  in  the  perplexities  and  annoy- 
ances of  business,  that  home  cares  are  also  annoying  and  try  the  patience 
and  the  strength  of  their  wives.  They  come  home  expecting  sympathy  and 
attention,  but  are  too  apt  to  have  none  to  give.  A  single  kindly  word  or  look, 
that  tells  his  thought  of  her  and  her  troubles,  would  lift  half  the  weight  of 


JTOMAX,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  313 

care  from  her  heart.  Secondly,  husbands  should  make  confidants  of  their 
wives,  consulting  them  ou  their  plans  and  prospects,  and  especially  on  their 
troubles  and  embarrassments.  A  -woman's  intuition  is  often  better  than  all 
his  wisdom  and  shrewdness,  and  her  ready  sympathy  and  interest  is  a  pow- 
erful aid  for  his  efforts,  for  their  mutual  welfare.  Thirdly,  men  should 
show  their  love  for  their  wives  in  constant  attentions,  in  their  manner  of 
treating  them,  and  in  the  thousand  and  one  trifling  offices  of  affection 
which  may  be  hardly  noticeable,  but  which  make  all  the  difference  between 
a  life  of  sad  and  undefined  longing,  and  cheery,  happy  existence.  Above 
all,  men  should  beware  of  treating  their  wives  with  rudeness  and  incivility, 
as  if  they  were  the  only  persons  not  entitled  to  their  consideration  and  re- 
spect. They  should  think  of  their  sensitive  feelings  and  their  need  of 
sympathy,  and  never  let  the  fire  of  love  go  out  or  cease  to  show  that  the 
flame  is  burning  with  unabated  fervor." 

And  another  one,  in  the  "  Mother's  Journal"  understood  this 
point  perfectly :  — 

"  Only  let  a  woman  be  sure  that  she  is  precious  to  her  husband  —  not 
useful,  not  valuable,  not  convenient  simply,  but  lovely  and  beloved ;  let 
her  be  the  recipient  of  his  polite  and  hearty  attention ;  let  her  feel  that  her 
care  and  love  are  noticed,  appreciated  and  returned ;  let  her  opinion  be 
asked,  her  approval  sought,  and  her  judgment  respected  in  matters  of 
■which  she  is  cognizant ;  in  short,  let  her  only  be  loved,  honored,  cherished, 
in  fulfilment  of  the  marriage  vow  —  and  she  will  be  to  her  husband,  her 
children,  and  society,  a  well-spring  of  pleasure.  She  will  bear  pain  and 
toil  and  anxiety  —  for  her  husband's  love  is  to  her  a  tower  and  fortress. 
Shielded  and  sheltered  therein,  adversity  will  have  lost  its  sting.  She  may 
suffer,  but  sympathy  will  dull  the  edge  of  sorrow.  A  house  with  love  in 
it — and  by  love  I  mean  love  expressed  in  words  and  looks  and  deeds  (for 
I  have  not  one  spark  of  faith  in  love  that  never  crops  out)  —  is  to  a  house 
without  love  as  a  person  to  a  machine ;  one  is  life,  the  other  is  a  mechan- 
ism. The  unloved  woman  may  have  bread  just  as  light,  a  house  just  as  tidy  as 
the  other ;  but  the  latter  has  a  spring  of  beauty  about  her,  a  joyousness,  an 
aggressive,  penetrating,  and  pervading  brightness,  to  which  the  former  is 
a  stranger.  The  deep  happiness  in  her  heart  shines  out  in  her  face.  It 
gleams  over  it.  It  is  fair  and  graceful,  and  warm  and  welcoming  with  her 
oresence ;  she  is  full  of  devices  and  plots  and  sweet  surprises  for  her  hus- 
band and  family.  She  has  never  done  with  the  romance  and  poetry  of 
life.  She,  herself,  is  a  lyric  poem,  setting  herself  to  all  pure  and  gracious 
melodies.  Humble  household  ways  and  duties  have  for  her  a  golden  sig- 
nificance. The  prize  makes  her  calling  high,  and  the  end  sanctifies  the 
means.     Love  is  Heaven,  and  Heaven  is  love." 


514  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARKIAGE. 

While  the  author  of  this  book  has  said  much  against  the 
abuse  of  passion,  he  finds  it  is  necessary  to  caution  against  the 
opposite  extreme ;  for  a  wedded  celibate  is  a  disgrace  to  the 
human  species.  Even  Dante,  the  poet,  realized  this  truth  in  his 
early  day,  for  he  saj's  in  Canto  XI.  of  "  Paradise,"  if  mistake 
be  not  made  :  — 

"  Incontinence  the  least  offends  God,  and  least  guilt  incurs." 

Few  men,  as  said  before,  and  here  repeated,  are  capable  of 
really  loving,  even  though  they  may  admire,  a  strong-minded 
woman,  —  a  she  man  ;  —  nor  are  such  capable  of  inspiring  the 
divine  passion.  A  sensible  man  couldn't  rest  well  beside  a 
"  scientific  nomenclature  "  or  "  technichological  proposition." 
One  prefers  a  romance  or  a  song ;  nor  are  men  over-fond  of 
physical,  mental  or  moral  angularities.  Such  highly  "  gifted  " 
are  altogether  too  sharp  for  comfort,  and  their  mental  qualifica- 
tions are  too  great  to  be  compatible  with  either  husband  or  baby 
culture,  or  anything  like  connubial  felicity ;  and  while  their 
"  a  prioris  "  and  "  fortioris  "  all  do  very  well  on  the  platform, 
real  men,  when  off  it  and  at  home,  prefer  to  dispense  therewith, 
and  vote  most  decidedly  for  peace  and  union,  so  far  as  home 
comforts  are  concerned. 

The  poet  Rosenberg,  in  "  The  Ark,"  has  finely  expressed 
some  thoughts  which  it  were  well  each  of  us  learned  and  profited 
by:- 

"  Saltly  surging  round  my  soul, 

Swart  and  deep  the  waters  roll ; 

No  horizon  can  I  see 

Where  a  place  of  rest  may  be. 

Out,  young  passion,  out  and  try 

The  pathless  wave  and  boundless  sky ; 
Passion's  wing  is  loosed  in  rain  — 

Passion  finds  nor  pause  nor  rest  — 

With  ruffled  wing  and  rumpled  breast, 
Passion  cometh  home  again. 

"  Out,  ambition  !  stronger  still ; 
Great  of  heart,  and  large  of  will ; 


WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  315 

Vulture  wing  and  eagle  eye  — 
Sweep  the  wave  and  search  the  sky, 
Spite  of  storm  and  battling  wind, 
Place  and  spot  of  rest  to  find. 

But  in  vain,  ambition's  flight 
Sweeps  the  wave  for  place  of  rest ; 
Home  it  comes,  with  bleeding  breast, 

Shattered  wing  and  failing  might. 

"  Dear  home-dweller !  gentle  love ! 
Timid  plume  and  eye  of  dove ! 
Thine  at  length  the  task  to  try ; 
Out,  and  search  the  wave  and  sky. 
Nor  flies  the  trembling  one  in  vain, 
Back  it  comes  in  joy  again. 

Love  brings  home  the  olive-leaf; 
Love  has  found  the  place  of  rest; 
Woman's  true  and  tender  breast, 
Only  home  in  every  grief." 

Wonder  how  it  is  in  the  majority  of  New  England  homes  ! 

Heaven  save  us  all  from  the  tender  mercies  of  The  Friend 
of  the  Family,  who  eats  our  bread  beneath  our  roof-tree,  and 
mangles  our  characters  when  digesting  it  elsewhere  ! 

How  dreadfully  scandal-mongers  squirm  when  their  own 
tables  are  turned  upon  them,  and  themselves  are  made  to  feel 
how  sharper  than  a  serpent's  tooth  is  the  viper-fang  and  lying 
tongue  of  one  who  peddles  slander ! 

Reader,  never  go  back  on  any  one,  just  because  they  are 
scandalized  and  talked  against ;  for  the  gabblers  are  ignorant 
of  the  real  character  of  those  they  traduce ;  and  it  often  turns 
out  that  those  who  bear  the  worst  name  are  white-robed  angels 
compared  to  their  vituperators.  "Who  so  great  as  Him  of  Naz- 
areth? yet  they  hung  him !  "Who  so  meek  and  lovely  as  His 
best  friend  John?   yet  they  martyred  him!     Indeed,  to  come 

down  to  our  own  clays,  who  so  virtuous  as  R s,  the  famous 

Boston  printer?  yet  they  said  his  virtue  was  of  a  very  leaky 
character,  —  that  meek  and  gentle  lambkin  of  men  !  No,  no, 
it  won't  do  to  measure  a  man  by  what  They  Say. 


316  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

Let  us  now  turn  our  attention  for  a  brief  space  to  the  consid- 
eration of  blonde  women  and  their  opposites,  the  vivacious 
brunettes  ;  and  to  the  compatibilities  and  temperaments  best 
suited  to  the  general  production  of  the  greatest  comparative 
amount  and  degree  of  happiness  in  the  married  life  of  human 
kind,  so  far,  at  least,  as  the  offshoots  of  the  Caucasian,  Latin, 
and  Teutonic  races,  now  forming  the  human  conglomerate  in- 
habiting the  soil  of  these  United  States  and  adjacent  lands,  are 
concerned. 

Under  the  head  of  the  blonde  is  here  intended  to  be  included 
all  who  are  light,  and  some  who  are  ruddy  ;  while  under  the 
class  brunette  is  included  all  those,  without  too  much  Negro 
and  Indian  blood,  who  are  dark  or  olive  in  complexion,  and 
whose  hair  and  eyes  correspond  generally  thereto. 

And  here  the  author  mahes  the  astounding  assertion,  and  defies 
contradiction,  that  there  is  not  a  brunette  on  earth,  never  was,  and 
never  ivill  be,  but  in  ivhose  veins  Black  man's  blood  flows  ! 
Not  a  brunette  living,  dead,  or  to  be,  but  at  the  head  of  whose 
line  stands  one  of  the  three  dark  races,  Arab,  Moor,  Negro  ; 
more  Arab  than  Moor,  more  Negro  than  either  or  both  the 
others  combined.  There,  you  brunettes,  who  hate  the  black 
races,  put  that  in  your  pipes  and  smoke  it !  for  it  is  true,  no 
matter  how  sick  at  the  thought,  or  stomach,  it  may  make  you, 
you  are  cousins  to  Pompey,  not  the  emperor,  but  that  genial 
gentleman  who,  erewhile,  hailed  from 

"  Way  down  upon  de  Swanee  riber, 
Far,  far  away." 

Read  the  extracts  from  Darwin,  in  this  book,  again,  if  you 
want  to  see  how  the  thing  came  to  pass  ;  remember,  too,  that 
genealogical  lines  elude  us  by  their  multitude  and  ramifications 
after  a  few  centuries ;  and  rest  assured  that  somewhere  in  the 
past,  a  black  man  grins  triumphantly  at  every  brunette,  as  he 
says,  "  I's  yer  granfader,  befo'  de  Lord  !  "  —  "  Look  here,"  said 
a  gentleman,  who  heard  the  above  read,  "if  that's  a  lie,  it's  the 
king-pin  of  the  species !     If  it  is  a  fact,  why,  it's  a  damned  un- 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  31  7 

palatable  one  !  that's  all !  "  —  "  Well,"  was  the  response,  "  it  is 
a  fact,  and  cannot  be  disproved."  Your  remark  calls  to  mind 
an  illustrative  little  story.     Listen  :  — 

Scene  I.  —  Planter's  dining-room.  Present :  a  table  full  of 
guests,  and  an  impudent,  old,  and  stuttering  negro  to  wait 
upon  them.  Subject  of  conversation :  Darwinism,  and  mother- 
marking.  Aristocratic  lacly,  with  beautiful  brunette  daughter 
upstairs,  remarks  that,  "  Mental  states,  at  certain  sacred  sea- 
sons, indubitably  affect  the  unborn.  Why,  some  months  be- 
fore the  first  birthday  of  Georia  Augusta  Minerva,  I  was  in  the 
woods,  culling  those  delicious  wild  flowers  which  there  lift  up 
their  modest  heads,  when,  suddenly,  a  quadroon  man,  not  ugly- 
looking,  but  very  impudent  and  lascivious  in  expression,  sud- 
denly emerged,  —  and  the  fright  determined  her  complexion  ; 
and  the  villain  actually  chased  me,  and  — " 

"  Yeth,  and  by  Gum,  he  coicli  yer,  too;  'case  I  knows  de  very 
nigger!"  broke  in  the  impudent,  stuttering  son  of  Ham. 

Scene  II.  —  Sensation;  lady  faints  ;  exit  impudence,  amid 
a  shower  of  plates,  and  "  Well,  I  swears  ! " 

"  My  father  sold  charcoal,  and  that  was  the  cause  of  it ! " 

There  are  three  general  classes  of  women :  the  light-eyed, 
light-haired,  and  fair-complexioned ;  the  dark-haired,  dark- 
eyed,  and  dark-complexioned.  The  first  are  blondes,  the 
second  brunettes.  Intermediate  is  a  class  partaking  of  the 
characteristics  of  both :  women  with  light  hair  and  e}^es,  but 
dark-skinned ;  others  the  exact  reverse  of  these  ;  and  another, 
the  ruddy  class.  The  two  first,  however,  predominate  largely 
over  the  third  in  this  country  ;  and  it  is  those  only  here  pro- 
posed to  be  briefly  analyzed. 

Now,  the  eyes  are  the  mirrors  of  the  soul ;  at  least  when  said 
eyes  are  caught  unawares,  and  do  not  see  you  looking  too 
closely  at  them,  in  the  endeavor  to  penetrate  to  the  informing 
soul  behind  them. 

Some  writer  has  affirmed  that  the  devil  himself  is  black-eyed ; 
and  that  woe  betides  the  unlucky  wight  who  weds  a  black-eyed 


318  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

woman  !  —  wnich  latter  assertion  the  present  writer  takes  issue 
with  decidedly  ;  for  although  there  may  be  fewer  gentle  blaek- 
e}Ted  women  than  of  blue  or  gray,  }-et  it  is  certain  that  quite  as 
much  amiability  is  developed  by,  and  characterizes  black-eyed 
ladies,  as  in  the  case  of  others  of  any  hue  or  shade  whatever ; 
while  on  the  score  of  virtue,  they  are  all  three,  perhaps,  even  as 
a  general  rule.  Yet  as  blondes  predominate  in  numbers,  there 
will  be  found  among  women  of  easy  virtue,  ten  cold,  light-eyed 
blondes,  to  every  single  brunette,  or  black-eyed  woman,  not 
alone  in  America,  but  the  whole  wide  world  over,  if  we  except 
the  swarming  hordes  of  Tartary,  China,  the  Ocean  Isles,  and 
populous  Japan  ;  and  even  then  we  have  all  light-e3red  Europe, 
with  the  teeming  millions  of  Russia,  to  back  up  this  assertion. 

A  black-eyed  woman  is  more  easily  overcome  from  loitliin 
than  her  light-e}Ted  sister,  but  she  resists  outward  pressure  a 
great  deal  more,  and  laughs  at  the,  to  her,  ridiculous  idea  of 
yielding  unless  she  chooses  to  do  so  from  whim,  caprice,  or  her 
own  especial  will.  A  light-eyed  woman  makes  all  sorts  of  lame 
excuses  for  a  fall,  and  is  apt  to  urge  "  psychologic"  fascination 
as  "  the  cause  of  it,"  not  seeing  how  utterly  absurd  is  such  a  plea, 

—  one  which  no  brunette  on  earth  would  descend  to  make,  be- 
cause she  knows  its  general  contemptible  silliness  ! 

A  light-eyed  woman  is  most  easiby  overcome  from  without, 
and  such  will  sell  themselves  far  more  readily  than  their  brown- 
skinned  opposites.  If  one  of  these  latter  loves,  she  loves  all 
over ;  nor  can  all  earth,  or  an}r  other  power,  sway  or  swerve  her 
deep  integrity  and  devotion  to  the  object  she  gives  her  heart  to. 
She  would  die  first !  Not  so  the  light-eyed  woman,  for  she  can 
love  more  than  once,  and  more  than  one  too,  at  the  same  time, 

—  and  in  the  same  direction  ;  and,  strange  to  say,  apparently 
without  deeming  herself  unjust  to  either, —  or  herself!  On  the 
other  hand  the  love  of  the  brunette  is  more  liable  to  an  upsettal 
than  a  blonde's,  and  (/she  changes,  if  her  jealous}*-  is  once  fairly 
kindled,  hell  never  yet  blazed  with  more  vehement  fury  than 
will  her  fire-packed  soul !  If  she  deems  him  false  to  whom  she 
has  given  her  heart,  she  does  not  mope,  get  the  hysterics,  go  off 
into  fainting-fits,  or  to  bed  with  a  quick  consumption,  like  your 


woman;  love,  and  marriage.  319 

fair  Cynthias  or  fickle  blondettes  ;  but  she  blazes  her  wrath 
right  straight  out,  and  no  mistake  ;  and  no  tigress  robbed  of  her 
cubs  is  so  fierce,  revengeful,  vindictive,  cruel  and  remorseless 
as  she  !  She  laughs  at  anything  short  of  perfect  vengeance  ;  life 
itself  is  not  too  sacred  a  sacrifice  to  her  injured  honor  and 
blighted  love  ;  and,  unlike  the  reasoning  blonde,  she  would  not 
hesitate  to  wreak  her  spite  on  the  head  of  her  rival,  even  to  the 
bitter  death,  and  although  she  knew  that  rival  to  be  innocent, 
and  the  man  alone  in  fault.  "  Get  out  of  my  sunshine  !  "  is  her 
motto,  "  or  I'll  kill  you  if  you  don't !  In  fact,  I  guess  I'll  kill  you 
any  way  —  to  make  sure  !  "  Take  him  back  to  her  arms  again, 
she  certainly  will,  ten  times  over.  Nay,  she  will  even  restore 
him  to  her  heart ;  but  to  her  soul,  and  perfect  confidence?  Never  ! 
As  well  might  }tou  throw  sand  in  the  sea,  and  expect  it  to  return 
to  your  hand  again  !  For  she  will  nurse  the  memory  as  a  fitter 
morsel  forever  and  for  a}Te  ;  in  which  respect  she  differs  both 
from  the  blonde  and  the  ruddy  woman,  and  is  more  vehement 
than  both  combined. 

As  well  tell  3Testerday  to  come  back  and  change  places 
with  the  morrow,  as  expect  her  to  look  on  the  recreant  lover  or 
husband  with  the  same  affectionate  e}res  again.  It  is  an  utter 
impossibility  ;  for  when  once  the  storm  has  been  raised  in  her 
soul,  it  never  wholly  calms  again ;  nor  can,  or  will  she,  even  to 
another,  ever  again  be  wholly  what  she  was  before.  Her  na- 
ture is  sharp,  sudden,  quick  as  the  lightning's  flash,  and  burn- 
ing as  its  fire.  There  is  no  sacrifice  she  will  not  freely,  gladly, 
make  for  him  she  loves.  There  is  no  revenge  too  terrible  for 
her  to  wreak  upon  him,  and  the  innocent  object,  perhaps,  of  his 
attentions,  —  the  unthinking  arouser  of  her  jealousy.  A  bru- 
nette's love  is  of  the  ardent,  fiery,  passionate  kind  ;  and  she  for- 
ever lacks  the  delicate  tenderness  and  spirituality  which  charac- 
terize the  blonde.  She  is  more  passional,  less  emotional  in  the 
higher  sense,  —  less  devotional ;  quicker  tempered  ;  more  imperi- 
ous, exacting,  demanding,  selfish,  one-sided  ;  less  intuitive  ;  less 
domestic,  and  never  makes  as  good  a  nurse  as  a  blonde.  She  is 
more  vain,  but  less  proud  than  a  blonde  ;  is  far  less  delicate, 
scrupulous,  far-seeing,  provident ;  cares  little  for  religion  ;  is  care- 


320  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

less  of  her  soul ;  thinks  its  chances  good,  that  it  will  be  taken 
care  of  anyhow;  and  she  seldom  troubles  herself  about  laying 
up  treasures  in  heaven  —  or  anywhere  else.  But  with  all  these 
disadvantages,  she  has  one  grand  sweeping  virtue.  She  is  honest, 
speaks  her  mind  ;  is  trustable  ;  not  deceitful ;  cannot  easily  put 
on  and  demonstrate  what  she  does  not  feel ;  chafes  under  re- 
straint ;  and  when  she  goes  to  the  bad  —  which  she  may  do  for 
love ;  but  never,  unlike  the  blonde  —  for  money  !  —  she  is 
never  one-tenth  as  dangerous,  nor  one-fiftieth  as  bad ;  for  the 
ivorst  women  who  ever  trod  this  globe  of  ours  were  all  blondes  ; 
and  the  best  the  world  ever  saw,  from  the  Virgin  Mary  down- 
ward, have  been  brunettes,  or  brunettesque. 

All  the  three  temperaments  of  women  have  advantages  over 
each  other.  But  the  middle  or  ruddy  woman  never  experiences 
either  the  intensities  of  the  brunette,  or  the  intellectual  raptures 
of  the  blonde. 

A  blonde  woman  is  incapable  of  even  one-half  the  intense 
passionateness  or  passione  of  her  dark-skinned  rival,  save  in 
very  rare  instances  —  when  she  loves  !  —  but  is  competent  to  an 
immeasurably  finer,  more  delicate,  discerning,  calm,  gentle, 
tender,  sweet,  lofty  sow7-subduing  love,  which,  if  it  be  fairly  set- 
tled, will  last  to  the  door  of  the  tomb  and  beyond  it ;  while  any 
brunette  that  ever  lived  will  forget  her  grief,  survive  her  fiery, 
volcanic,  tempestuous  love,  and  marry  again,  and  that  too  im- 
pulsively, and  sometimes  far  too  hastily.  To  offset  these  disad- 
vantages, the  brunette  loves  her  child  with  more  devotion  than 
a  blonde.  She  is  sometimes  a  vampire,  but  very  seldom,  be- 
cause she  possesses  the  power  of  winning  men  naturally,  which 
all  blondes  do  not ;  and  besides  all  this,  ten  blondes  commit 
foeticide  to  one  brunette. 

Brunettes  are  quicker  tempered,  but  less  quarrelsome,  and  are 
never  half  so  envious  as  the  fair-locked  damsel.  She  resists 
temptation  better ;  nor  can  she  be  lured  at  all  by  what  draws 
her  light  sister ;  and  the  dark  lady  bears  up  when  fate,  fortune, 
earth  and  heaven  are  against  her,  far  better  than  the  fairer  dame  ; 
and  when  she  sinks  never  falls  so  low !  —  but  then  again,  when 
she  rises,  never  soars  so  high !     Her  crimes  are  seldom  of  the 


woman;  love,  and  marriage.  321 

Borgia  stamp,  hut  are  more  frequently  the  impulsions  of  the 
moment ;  and  when  she  sins,  she  is  far  more  easily  reclaimed, 
because  her  heart  never  becomes  wholly  tough  or  callous.  True, 
there  have  been  some  brunette  fiends  in  the  world,  but  their  num- 
bers are  not  large. 

The  same  diseases  that  attack  and  destroy  fair  women  are 
not  the  same  dark  ones  fall  beneath.  Twenty  blondes  are  dis- 
eased in  the  nerves,  have  complaints  usually  called  "  Female," 
and  are  afflicted  with  Avasting  disorders,  to  every  brunette,  whose 
troubles  are  of  a  precisely  opposite  character.  Among  men,  on 
the  contrary,  the  above  ratios  are  exactly  reversed,  with  refer- 
ence to  the  different  complexions. 

In  regard  to  other  departments  of  human  nature,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  the  light  man  is  most  domestic ;  loves  home  better,  on 
a  steady  strain ;  but  parts  from  it  easier,  and  with  fewer  keen 
pangs ;  becomes  less  intensely  homesick  when  away ;  and  re- 
turns to  it  with  far  less  of  a  sunburst  of  enthusiasm,  than  the 
dark  man  ;  but  his  joy  lasts  far  longer ;  hence,  as  a  general 
thing,he  is  far  safer  to  tie  to  ;  for  among  others,  the  reason  that 
he  is  a  slower  coach  in  every  wa}^,  and  being  less  impulsive,  is 
steadier  in  the  long  run  than  a  brunette. 

In  the  race  for  wives,  widowers  have  the  inside  track  against 
men,  old  or  young,  who  have  never  been  married,  all  other 
things  and  advantages  being  equal,  except  wealth ;  for  if  two 
men,  of  equal  age,  station  and  wealth,  one  blonde,  the  other 
brunette,  are  rivals  for  the  same  woman,  whether  she  be  blonde, 
ruddy,  or  brunette,  the  light-haired,  light-eyed  man  will  win. 
But  if  both  are  poor,  the  dark  man  gives  odds  to  and  beats  the 
other  out  of  sight,  because  the  light  man  understands  the  law 
of  money-making  and  display  a  great  deal  better  than  any  dark 
man  possibly  can,  for  but  few  such  ever  reach  financial  great- 
ness, and  in  the  race  for  woman,  as  a  general  rule,  diamonds  is 
a  trump  card,  and  when  well  played,  as  a  light  man  alwaj's 
knows  how  to  do,  it  will  clean  the  board  and  take  the  trick  nine 
times  in  ten.  But,  if  the  contest  between  two  such  rivals  turns 
on  and  depends  upon  the  person jb  of  either,  the  dark  man  leaves 
his  contestant  hull  down  in  short  order. 


322  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

The  light  mau  is  electrical,  and  dazzles  a  woman.  The  dark 
man  is  magnetic,  and  attracts  her.     That's  the  difference. 

A  widow's  chances  for  re-marriage,  up  to  her  forty-fourth 
year,  are  equal  to  a  girl's  over  twenty,  but  less  than  that  of  girls 
below  that  age  ;  but  are  ten  times  better  after  she  passes  forty 
than  that  of  a  single  woman  turned  of  twenty-five. 

All  things  being  equal,  a  blonde  widow  over  thirty-five  will 
give  odds  to  any  brunette,  and  get  a  husband  quicker ;  but  under 
that  age  she  stands  a  very  slim  chance  beside  her  dark  rival. 

Both  blondes  and  brunettes  —  single  —  are  apt  to  forget  that  it 
is  not  faces  and  figures  that  a  man  wants,  but  solid  qualities  in 
a  woman  ;  and  both  play  the  external  physical  card, — intoxicate 
his  senses ;  flatter  his  vanity  ;  obfuscate  his  intellect ;  inflame 
his  passions,  and  infatuate  his  soul,  and  win  him  with  that  sort 
of  bait  up  to  their  thirty-fifth  j^ear.  But  after  that  is  passed, 
or  they  are  in  widowhood,  they  play  altogether  better  cards,  and 
hence  get  better  husbands  than  they  possibly  could  while 
younger,  because  a  loftier  class  of  men  are  attracted  by  them 
than  the  giddy  fools  who  flutter  round  3'ounger  and  more  exter- 
nally attractive  women.  Both  classes  have  at  that  age  learned 
what  girls  ought  to  but  will  not  understand,  that  faces  should 
be  the  index  of  lofty  qualities  of  mind  and  feeling,  not  a  mere 
advertisement  of  apartments  to  let,  with  modern  improvements 
—  among  which  is  a  frightful  capacity  of  running  up  milliners' 
and  doctors'  bills.  It  is  soul  and  mind  a  man  wants  in  a  woman, 
and  not  mere  figure,  or  any  sort  of  paint  or  cotton  aids  ;  but  it 
is  thought  and  soul,  not  flesh  and  fol-loll,  which  allures  sensible 
lovers ;  hence  a  girl  who  seeks  to  win  a  genuine  man  must  play 
a  judicious  hand  of  mental,  social,  moral  and  commonsensical 
affectionate  cards,  not  the  physical  mainly,  as  it  is  the  fashion 
to  do  in  these  modern  times  ;  for  that  bait  catches  either  worth- 
less scamps  or  emptj'-headed  fools,  both  of  which  are  rather 
poor  investments  as  husbands. 

Sometimes  such  a  girl,  playing  such  a  card,  will  very  likely 
succeed  in  fastening  some  atheistic,  bragging  fool,  vain  of  his 
clothes,  who  travels  around  with  a  pocket  full  of  love  letters, 
written  to  himself  by  himself,  and  lots  of  photographs  which  he 


woman;  love,  and  marriage.  323 

takes  every  opportunity  to  show  off  and  boast  bis  conquests 
over  tbe  originals, —  proving  himself,  thereby,  a  doubty-rtyecl 
scoundrel ;  for  if  they  are  pictures  of  living  women,  outside  the 
brothels,  he  probably  slanders  them,  in  which  case  he  is  of 
course  a  scoundrel !  If  his  stories  of  conquest  and  favors  are 
true,  and  tbe  women  be  other  than  light-love  ladies,  i.  e.,  com- 
mon strumpets, —  then  he  is  an  infamous  wretch  and  fool  to  boot. 
He  may  boast  to  his  full  of  brothelite  favors ;  but  is  a  low  dog 
for  betraying  a  decent  woman's  trust  and  confidence, — if  decent 
women  ever  grant  such  favors.  Can  they?  If  the  pictures 
have  no  originals,  but  were  purchased  for  the  use  he  puts  them 
to,  then  he  is  a  fine  tripartite  combination  of  scoundrel,  fool 
and  liar  !  —  a  regular  "  case"  whose  only  probable  female  asso- 
ciates are  such  as  low-lived  pieces  of  men  pick  up  in  the  noisome 
slums  of  Boston,  Hartford,  New  York  and  other  great  centres ; 
besides  which  the  probability  is  that  such  a  thing  in  man's  shape 
is  a  practical  solitaire,  unfit  for  woman's  societ}^,  and  a  foul  dis- 
grace to  the  form  he  wears  !     A  "  case,"  indeed  ! 

The  origin  of  the  terms,  "  case,"  "  hard  case,"  was,  that 
once  there  was  a  low  fellow  bearing  that  name,  who  was  per 
petually  boasting  of  his  amours,  without  any  more  solid  basis 
of  truth  than  a  diseased  vanity,  ridiculous  egotism,  and  a 
matchless  capacity  of  lying.  One  such  boasting-braggart  fool 
the  author  of  this  fell  in  with ;  and  that  Heaven  may  protect 
all  women  from  the  foul  presence  of  all  such  is  his  fervent 
prayer !  for  if  a  woman  is  weak  enough  to  trust  her  honor  to 
such  a  burlesque  on  manhood  she's  a  ruined  being !  If  she 
marries  him  her  fate  is  sealed  ;  for  the  likelihood  is  that  within 
fifteen  }Tears  he  will  wear  crape  on  his  hat  three  or  four  times, 
as  sad  memorials  of  the  "  dear  departed,"  numbers  one,  two, 
three  or  four.  In  previous  pages  the  female  vampire  was  de- 
scribed ;  such  fellows,  such  unmitigated,  heaven-abandoned 
profligates  as  the  sort  just  limned,  are  their  natural  congeners  — 
male  specimens  of  the  same  order.  Let  us  turn  from  the  con- 
templation of  such  wretches  and  unprincipled  monstrosities  to 
our  more  congenial  theme. 

As  a  general  thing  brunette  ladies,  all  other  things  b^ing 


32-4  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

equal,  and  'the  opportunities  the  same,  will  give  odds  to  the 
blonde  and  fairly  outshine  her.  Men  find  it  extremely  difficult 
to  resist  their  fascinations  ;  and  there  is  an  old  legend  extant  to 
the  effect  that  all  Olympus  was  at  peace  until  a  brunette  made 
her  appearance  there ;  for  no  sooner  did  the  gods  lay  eyes  on 
her  than  every  one  of  them  went  wild  ;  and  even  Cupid  forgot 
his  vocation  by  reason  of  his  captivity  to  her  wilful,  beautiful, 
devilishly  delightful  ladyship.  And  earthly  men  are  no  better 
off  if  her  brunetteship  understands  herself,  and  "  she  do!" 
They  yield  to  the  magic  of  her  presence  simply  because  they 
cannot  help  it ;  and  that's  the  long  and  short  of  it !  She  is 
more  spritely,  and  sprightly,  too ;  vivacious,  audacious,  wil- 
fully gracious ;  full  to  the  lips  of  richness,  ripeness,  verve, 
elan;  and  can  reach  a  man's  heart,  and  turn  his  head  a  great 
deal  quicker,  easier,  and  with  infinitely  more  exquisite  tact  than 
the  rarest  blonde  of  them  all. 

.  Brunettes  are  very  generally  smaller  in  stature,  and  finer 
formed  than  blondes  ;  and  all  small  women  dress  better,  and 
make  a  far  more  effective  display  of  their  charms,  natural  and 
artistic,  than  do  large  ones ;  while  a  dark-eyed,  dark-haired 
beauty  will  play  a  ribbon  against  a  man's  senses,  brains,  heart 
and  fortune,  and  will  win  the  triple  game  nine  times  in  ten, 
before  your  slower  blonde  gets  her  batteries  in  position.  But, 
when  the  latter  does  get  ready,  the  dark  lady  must  open  up  her 
sharpest,  quickest,  liUingest  fire,  for  if  she  don't,  she's  done  for, 
sure  !  because  when  a  smart  blonde  attacks  a  man  in  right-down 
earnest,  she  generally  makes  him  forget  everything  but  her,  — 
including  brunettes,  common-sense,  sanhty,  judgment ;  she  makes 
a  marionette  of  him,  petrifies  him,  turns  his  brain  upside  down, 
and  his  wits  inside  out ;  and  she  settles  him  in  short  order,  for 
her  heavier  artillery  does  far  more  effective  work  in  a  short 
time  than  all  the  light  firing  from  brunettedom  can  possibly. 

But  in  the  general  game  the  brunette  has  the  best  of  her 
rival,  who  usually  shoots  too  high,  —  among  the  stars,  —  while 
the  dark  lady  fires  low  and  kills,  because  her  guns  are  charged 
with  passion,  and  attacking  the  foe  between  wind  and  —  well, 
she  wins  him,  that's  all ! 


WOMAX,    LOrE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  325 

Without  being  compelled  to  copy  from  another  work  from  the 
same  pen  as  this  an  article  on  "  The  Seven  Magnetic  Laws  of 
Love,"  the  author  cannot  here  tell  several  profound  truths  rela- 
tive to  lost  or  dead  loves,  and  the  methods  of  their  restoration, 
but,  nevertheless,  will  here  lay  down  certain  principles  which 
have  been  tested  in  the  crucibles  of  time  and  trial,  and  have 
never  yet  failed.  These  are  :  the  blonde  woman  is  more  apt  to 
turn  her  husband's  love  from  her  than  is  the  brunette  ;  nor  can 
she  get  him  back  by  the  same  methods  that  the  dark  woman  can 
under  similar  circumstances.  "When  the  light  woman  seeks  to 
recover  a  recreant  husband,  she  generally  fails  in  her  effort, 
because  she  plays  the  role  of  love  and  tears,  neither  of  which 
are  half  as  effective  in  her  hands  as  in  the  dark  woman's  ;  for 
her  nature  is  all  love,  all  tears,  hence  she  plays  them  with  a 
natural  power,  which  the  fairer  one  can  never  hope  to  wield. 
Her  plan  is  to  fix  her  soul  on  will,  purpose,  justice,  and  to  play 
the  role  of  hopeful  wife,  and  wifely  duty ;  to  storm  the  citadel 
of  his  manhood,  her  wifehood  ;  attack  his  reason,  and  carry 
him  back  by  storm. 

Now,  the  brunette  cannot  do  this,  because  she  belongs  to  the 
emotional  side,  —  the  tender,  passionate  feeling  region  ;  one 
attacks  a  man's  head,  the  other  storms  his  heart.  Those  who 
have  read  the  article  referred  to  will  comprehend  the  entire 
rationale  of  this  part  of  the  subject ;  those  who  have  not  will 
be  able  to  do  so  by  reading  the  book,  a  notice  of  which  is  ap- 
pended hereto. 

Scene  :  a  vast  temple,  occupied  by  five  thousand  husbandless 
women,  all  of  whom  have  gathered  there  in  attendance  upon  an 
auction,  for  three  husbands  are  to  be  sold  to-day — not  that 
three  millions  are  not  sold  every  da}r !  —  but  not  in  the  present 
sense,  for  the  women  there  have  come  to  bid  for  husbands.  See, 
there  comes  the  auctioneer;  he  speaks;  listen:  "Ladies  all, 
to-day  we  have  only  three  specimens  for  sale  ;  the  first  of  which 
I  will  now  put  up.  Ladies,  this  is  an  unpolished  lump  of  gold 
—  although  he  has  none  of  it,  being  poor ;  but  he  is  honest,  in- 
dustrious, rather  sunburnt,  but  a  Man,  and  a  better  mechanic 


326  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

never  walked !  Who  bids  ?  What !  five  thousand  of  you  and 
ne'er  a  bid  !  Ah  !  yes,  one  !  —  going  —  going  —  gone.  Taken 
by  Miss  Sensible.  Now  the  next  one  for  sale  is  a  polished  gen- 
tleman in  education  and  manners,  and  he  dresses  in  the  height 
of  fashion;  sings  well  and  plays  better  —  three  card  monte  and 
faro  !  Who  bids  for  this  soft-skinned  Adonis  —  a  perfect  lady- 
killer?  What!  five  hundred  bids?  Surprising  —  please  settle 
it  among  yourselves  who  takes  him.  The  next  lot  is  sixty-five 
years  old;  is  rather  cross,  not  handsome  at  all,  is  tyrannical, 
thinks  wife  and  horses  belong  to  the  same  category ;  but,  to 
make  amends  for  his  gout,  rheum}*-  e3*es  and  other  trifles  —  is 
worth  a  million  !  Who  bids?  Heavens  !  four  thousand  four  hun- 
dred and  ninety-five  bids !  What  an  astonishing  power  is 
money !  "  Scene  closes :  five  thousand  less  one  have  gone  to 
deep  sorrow.     One  only  went  to  happiness  ! 

That  man  or  woman,  in  whom  love  has  died  out,  and  in  whose 
emotional  nature  there  are  no  tides,  no  ebbs,  no  flows,  but  only 
a  lake-like  evenness,  or  Mediterranean  tidelessness,  needs  a  re- 
juvenescence of  the  dead  or  torpid  Will ;  will  to  think  and  do ; 
will  to  kill  the  eternal  placidity  of  things ;  will  to  reconstruct 
the  shattered  love ;  will  to  realize  the  purposes  of  life,  and  the 
divine  uses  of  affection  ;  will  to  break  the  dreadful  monotony, 
and  to  actualize  existence  as  it  ought  to  be.  How  can  this  be 
clone?  is  the  question  of  questions  in  the  minds  of  millions  of 
sufferers,  now  wrecked  and  stranded,  almost  hopelessly,  on  the 
banks  of  the  rushing  ocean  of  life.  It  is  a  mixed  question,  and 
a  vast  one.  not  wholly  to  be  answered  in  this  volume,  save  by  a 
general  reply :  Increase  the  blood  force  by  eating  the  best 
of  food;  by  the  cold  bath  (never  by  drugs),  and  try  to  bring 
the  mind  to  bear  upon  the  matter,  and  in  six  weeks  that  error 
will  be  corrected.  Again :  suppose  all  the  tide  is  one  side 
and  none  whatever  on  the  other ;  what  then  ?  Reply :  Then 
it  is  the  business  of  both  to  apply  themselves  to  the  only  ob- 
vious means  of  ending  such  a  state  of  things.  Time  allowed,  ten 
days. 

But  in  either  of  the  above  cases  reasons  should  be  given :  — 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  327 

"Well,  here  they  are  :  everything  in  nature  evolves  from  itself  an 
atmosphere,  as  flowers  do  perfume.  So  also  do  we.  Every  one 
knows  that  laughing  is  catching;  and  any  one  who  has  ever 
seen  a  mob  knows  that  the  fiercer  passions  of  human  nature  are 
transmissible  from  one  to  another,  until  thousands  become  in- 
fected and  infuriate  also  ;  and  for  no  other  reason  than  their  ner- 
vous and  magnetic  susceptibility  to  impressions  from  the  external 
world.  In  the  presence  of  a  devil  we  are  almost  death  sure  to 
absorb  the  prevailing  devilment,  no  matter  what  form  it  may 
chance  to  take.  If  we  are  close  to  those  in  whom  anger,  pity, 
jollity,  pain,  ambition,  love,  prevails,  to  that  tune  will  our  own 
organs  be  pitched  in  the  exact  ratio  of  our  impressionability. 
All  the  world  knows  this,  yet  practically  ignores  or  forgets  the 
knowledge  in,  and  at  the  very  time  and  place  it  is  most  needed, 
and  can  be  put  to  the  highest  and  best  uses. 

Our  wisdom  very  often  comes  too  late.  We  bend  to  circum- 
stances, which,  had  we  thought  of  the  means  at  the  right  time, 
we  could  have  risen  above ;  and  we  pall  and  blanch  and  tremble 
at  obstacles  in  our  paths,  which  we  afterward  well  knew  we 
could,  had  we  been  so  minded,  have  swept  away,  or  leaped  over 
with  the  utmost  ease. 

The  fundamental  axioms  of  this  book,  those  from  the  same 
pen,  and  of  the  soul  which  gives  them  to  mankind,  are  these : 
Love  lieth  at  the  foundation  :  "Will  reigneth  omnipotent :  Good- 
ness is  Godness,  and  that  is  Power :  Silence  is  strength.  The 
books :  their  object  was  and  is  to  do  somewhat  toward  laying 
the  firm  foundations  of  a  better  state  of  things  in  the  broad 
lands,  and  above  all,  in  the  world  of  love,  for  until  love  is  reju- 
venated the  blessed  Gospel  of  the  dear  Christ —  dear  and  true, 
and  grand  beyond  compare,  whether  God  incarnate  or  human 
man  !  —  will  never  be  comprehended  in  its  spirit  and  its  truth, 
therefore  never  be  obeyed  and  followed.  Hence  the  books 
teach  these  lessons  :  Purify  the  Loves :  Strengthen  the  Will : 
Increase  the  Personal  Power :  Cultivate  Goodness :  Prolong 
your  youth  and  life  by  so  doing:  Trust  ever  in  God  and.  do 
right.  Then  will  Shiloh  come  to  every  human  soul,  and  then 
will  every  eye  discern  the  sheen  of  heaven's  golden  glory,  illu- 


328  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

mining  the  wild  and  dreary  waste  of  waters,  which  we  call  hu- 
man life  below  !  Undoubtedly  the  author's  life  has  not  been  as 
perfect  as  he  could  wish,  yet  he  has  done  the  best  he  could  ; 
leaves  no  deadly  foes  behind  him,  feels  no  hatred  or  ill-will 
toward  even  one  of  God's  creatures,  and  can  truly  say,  as  one 
did  before  him,  and  from  the  bottom  of  his  heart :  — 

"  Yet  every  friend  partakes  my  store, 
And  want  goes  smiling  from  my  door. 
"Will  forty  shillings  sooth  the  breast 
Of  -worth  or  industry  distressed, 
This  sum  I  cheerfully  impart : 
'Tis  fourscore  pleasures  to  my  heart. 
And  you  may  make  by  means  like  these 
Five  talents  ten  whene'er  you  please. 
'Tis  true  my  little  purse  grows  light ; 
But  then  I  sleep  so  good  at  night. 
This  grand  specific  will  prevail 
When  all  the  doctor's  opiates  fail." 

"Whatever  emotion  agitates  us,  impels  from  us  an  atmosphere 
charged  with  what  we  feel,  and  whoever  comes  within  that  at- 
mosphere must,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  feel  just  as  we  do. 
Now,  of  all  other  things,  passion  generates  the  strongest  and 
most  extensive  and  pervasive  atmosphere,  and  one  which,  above 
all  others,  most  readily  affects  all  persons  who  come  within  its 
influence,  except  such  persons  be  so  radically  dead  in  passional 
respects  as  to  be  wholly  insulated  or  impervious  to  its  action. 
Without  enlarging  on  this  point,  let  us  here  say  that  mutuality 
results  only  when  one  sphere  blends  two  beings.  Then,  and 
then  only,  will  the  acme  of  marriage  be  fully  realized  in  all  its 
holy  and  pure  intensities  —  its  entirely  indescribable  soul  and 
spirit  happiness  and  joy.  Surely  no  one  can  be  so  dull  as 
not  to  see  the  enormous  freight  of  wisdom  concealed  within 
these  last  ten  lines !  For  in  them  is  the  grand  truth  that  the 
male  soul  must,  to  be  happy,  inhale  the  magnetic  and  ethereal 
aroma  flowing  from  the  divine  nature  of  woman  when  the  fires 
of  her  soul  are  kindled  by  the  torch  of  love  ;  and  that  the  woman 
cannot  really  know  herself  for  the  celestial  being  she  is,  until 


W01TAX,    LOVE,    AXD   MARRIAGE.  -        329 

she  drinks  in  the  dear  delight  flashed  forth  from  the  eyes  and 
exhaled  from  the  spirit  of  the  man  she  loves,  and  who  adores 
her  in  return.  Then,  ah!  then!  Slow  music!  —  lights  half 
down  !  —  let  the  blessed  curtain  fall !  for  two  souls  have  joined 
natures,  and  basking  in  the  golden  sunshine  of  reciprocal  affec- 
tion, are  crowned  with  God's  radiance,  realizing  that  love  alone 
can  give  the  soul  more  fulness  of  the  eternal  world,  than  all 
the  beggai-ly  materialisms  and  lusts  a  myriad  earths  could  afford 
in  the  march  of  a  double  file  of  eternities  !  — because  love  is 
the  infinite,  exhaustless,  limitless  sea  whereon  they  float, 
while  all  nature  sings  their  epithalamium.  This  is  true  love, 
which  only,  at  present,  the  few  can  know  and  understand,  but 
it  is  an  unknown,  undreamed-of  thing  to  the  masses  —  them  asses 
—  and  will  be  so  as  long  as  bodies  fetch  premiums  and  souls  are 
heavily  discounted,  as  they  are  in  these  rapid  days  ! 

The  light-skinned  men  of  America  are  better  educated  than 
the  darker  ones.  They  rule  the  world  of  mind  and  move  in 
the  sphere  of  intellect.  They  have  infinitely  more  talent  but 
less  original- genius  than  the  dark  man,  who  has  in  addition  a 
great  deal  more  feeling,  soul,  emotion,  charity,  generosity, 
love !  He  can  never  soar  amid  the  cursed  ethics  of  cent  per 
cent,  nor  reap  millions  where  he  only  sowed  hundreds,  as  the 
light  man  can  and  does  ;  but  then  he  feels  intenseby,  immensely 
more,  and  enjoys  life  with  greater  zest  and  gusto.  The  light 
man  is  slower,  cooler,  less  heartful ;  generally  smaller  when  he 
is  small,  and  a  great  deal  larger  and  grander  when  he  is  grand. 
At  all  times  he  is  more  close  and  a  deal  more  arbitrary.  Being 
less  excitable  and  passional,  he  is  less  susceptible  to  the  per- 
sonal charms  of  other  ladies.  He  is  less  demonstrative  in  his 
love  than  his  opposite,  bul  cannot  hold  a  woman  of  soul  with 
half  the  power  the  darker  man  can. 

In  New  England  there  are  plenty  of  women  capable  of 
strongly  loving,  but  the  proportion  of  men  who  are  so  is  very 
small  indeed,  taking  the  entire  population,  by  and  large  ;  for 
most  of  them  are  too  cold,  selfish,  grasping,  hard, —  and  have 
precious  little  of  that  rare  outburst  spontaneity  and  expressive 
manliness  to  be  found  either  north,  south  or  west  of  the  Isew 


330  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

England  States ;  and  this  is  quite  as  attributable  to  their  mode 
of  life  as  to  their  sterile  soil  and  unfavorable  climate.  A  full, 
free,  open,  generous-hearted  man,  native  of  and  resident  on 
the  soil  of  New  England,  may  be  found,  but  such  has  not  fallen 
to  the  lot  of  the  writer  of  this,  who  has  seen  many,  but  none 
who  entirely  filled  the  bill  of  even  a  half-ideal  manliness. 
There's  something  radically  wrong,  and  unnecessarily  small, 
in  the  New  England  character.  True,  here  and  there  you  find 
exceptional  men,  and  several  are  before  the  writer's  mind's  e3re 
at  this  moment ;  but  such  are  quite  aside  from  the  nearly  or  almost 
universal  rule.  As  a  consequence  of  the  scarcity  of  large-souled 
men,  whenever  the  New  Englanders  find  one  taller  than  the 
average — and  it  is  their  habit  to  belittle  every  one  but  them- 
selves —  they  forthwith  idolize  him  or  her,  and  so  a  fanatic, 
like  Wendell  Phillips, —  a  frothy  agitator  —  only  that,  and 
nothing  more  !  —  becomes  to  them  a  demigod.  It  is  only  out 
of  New  England  that  the  New  Englander  shows  the  stuff  at 
bottom.  It  is  only  in  the  great  West,  the  sunny  South,  New 
York,  or  in  far-off  lands  that  the  real  material  underlying  his 
every-day  self  hood  has  a  chance  to  develop  itself.  But  under 
such  conditions  the  New  England  man  looms  up  into  colossal 
proportions,  and  shows  his  kingship  finely.  There's  not  room 
enough  for  him  upon  his  native  soil.  He  requires  the  whole 
world  for  a  workshop,  and  the  universe  itself  is  none  too  large 
a  field  for  him.  Insatiably  grasping  both  for  knowledge  and 
money,  he  would  bore  a  hole  through  the  walls  of  heaven  to  get 
the  first,  and  open  an  ice-creamery  in  hell  to  gain  the  latter 
—  and  unquestionably  succeed  in  the  first  case,  and,  when 
satisfied  with  his  pile,  whittle  his  way  out  of  the  latter  while 
his  hoofed  majesty  was  taking  his  noon  siesta  on  the  griddles 
of  the  lower  deep  ! 

The  New  Englander's  mental  constitution,  like  his  birth- 
place, is  founded  upon  solid  granite  rock,  unshakable  by  any 
sort  of  earthquake  ;  firmly  knit,  close-grained,  tight-fisted,  a 
dozen  common  men  rolled  into  one,  but  closely  packed  —  for 
emigration  —  for  it  requires  other  suns  and  soil  than  his  own  to 
loosen  him  up,  shake  him  apart,  and  let  his  unsleeping  soul  put 


WOMAN,    LOFE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  331 

forth  its  slow  but  vehement  powers,  and  let  the  world  see  the 
true  grit  and  splendid  stuff  of  the  bottom  man  —  the  sturdy 
courage  and  enduring  pluck  of  the  Pilgrim's  blood  !  Then  the 
Yankee  becomes  a  giant  in  very  truth  ! 

To  resume  the  broken  thread :  As  the  natural  offset  against 
the  advantages  the  fairer  man  has  over  the  darker  one,  the  lat- 
ter has  a  better  chance  for  a  lengthened  period,  not  merely  of 
life,  but  what  is  of  far  more  value,  prolonged  youthfulness,  for 
he  is  less  quickly  exhausted  by  excess  of  any  kind ;  and  when 
depleted,  recuperates,  even  to  increased  energy,  when,  under 
precisely  similar  conditions,  the  fair-skinned  man  sickens, 
withers  and  dies  ;  else  becomes  chronically  powerless  mentally, 
materially  and  emotionally,  too.  The  rule  applies  to  both 
genders.  Light  people  are  infinitely  more  leech-like  and  vam- 
piral  than  dark  ones,  mentally  and  physically ;  for  they  are 
mainly  electric ;  but  the  dark  are  magnetic,  and  naturally 
abound  in  love,  excitability,  nerval-sensitiveness,  fire,  spirit ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  are  incapable  of  such  sustained  intellec- 
tual flights  and  mental  continuity  as  is  the  fairer  man.  When 
a  dark  man  is  original,  he  is  most  wonderfully  and  strangely 
so ;  but  more  first  thoughts  of  weight  and  world-ruling  power 
and  value  flow  from  the  brain  of  the  light  man  in  the  ratio  of 
four  to  one ;  and  hence  the  worlds  of  mathematics,  invention, 
science,  utility,  logic,  the  drama,  war,  science,  philosophy, 
architecture,  navigation  and  music,  is  mostly  the  fair  man's 
private  and  exclusive  domain,  wherein  he  reigns  supreme  lord 
and  king  paramount,  solely,  undisputed  and  alone.  But  then 
he  lives  in  the  future  ;  the  dark  man  lives  to-day.  To  the  lat- 
ter belong  religious  fervor,  present  ecstacy,  physical  joys, 
delirious  pleasures  and  rich  dreamery,  which  the  other  pines 
for,  and  pines  vainly. 

The  dark-complexioned  impart  magnetism,  hence  vitality, 
energy,  strength,  and  —  when  under  peculiar  circumstances  they 
know  how  —  absolute  power,  even  to  the  extent  of  life  -pro- 
longation. How  this  is  accomplished, —  by  natural  means  and 
mental  processes,  together  with  an  infinite  deal  more,  within 
the  measures  of  the  esoteric  love-laws  of  the  homos, —  cannot, 


332  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND    MAURI  AGE. 

of  coarse,  be  given  in  this  work  ;  and  whether  it  will  be  here- 
after, or  not,  depends  upon  conditions  not  yet  in  existence. 

Dark  people  do  not  drain  or  sap  their  mates  of  life  once  in 
a  million  cases  ;  which  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  fifty-six  light 
men  bury  their  wives  to  every  two  dark  men  who  do  the  same. 

Wives  of  light  men  die  of  consumption  and  similar  diseases, 
and  become  morbid  mentally  and  phj-sically,  a  great  deal  more 
frequently  than  those  of  the  opposite  cast ;  and  the  majority  of 
women's  chances  for  a  long  life  is  incomparably  better  with  a 
dark  than  any  light  man  under  heaven  !  At  least  in  America. 
Why?  Because  light  men  (and  women)  are  electric,  and  dark 
men  (and  women)  magnetic.  Light  people  have  more  front 
brain  and  less  back  brain  than  dark  ones,  hence  run  more  to 
mentality  than  their  opposites.  Light  men  have  more  love  than 
passion  ;  dark  ones  more  passion  than  love.  Light  ones  there- 
fore have  less  stamina  than  dark  ones.  Great  talent  marks  the 
light  complexion  ;  great  genius  marks  the  dark  one.  And  be- 
cause the  brain,  heart  and  nerves  mark  the  light  man  ;  and 
great  passion,  stamina  and  physique  the  dark  one,  the  child 
fathered  —  alwa3Ts  in  a  storm  of  passion  —  by  the  brunette  is 
better  knit,  made-up,  physically,  than  the  child  of  the  light 
man.  But  the  latter  has  more  children,  and  loses  them  by 
death  a  great  deal  faster  than  the  dark  man  ;  for  the  latter  has 
more  stomach,  lungs,  heart,  a  broader  chest,  back,  limbs,  and 
ten  times  the  fire  of  the  light  man.  The  dark  person  draws 
sustenance  readily  from  the  air,  light,  food  and  drink ;  and  con- 
verts it  into  flesh,  lungs,  bone,  muscle,  magnetism  ;  while  the 
light  man  converts  his  into  thought ;  hence  the  blonde  person  is 
hard  put  to  it  to  keep  up  a  specific  quantum  of  vital  force ; 
while  the  dark  man  has  an  overplus  of  it.  His  life  is  joyous, 
hilarious,  gloomy,  suicidal,  by  fits  and  starts  ;  he  is  elastic  ;  suf- 
fers more  keenly,  and  gets  over  it  quicker  than  the  light  per- 
son ;  he  blusters  and  threatens  more ;  brags  much ;  is  loud- 
tongued ;  open,  generous,  forgiving ;  seldom  grows  rich,  be- 
cause he  is  not  mean  ;  is  never  hypocritical,  and  when  angry 
spits  it  all  out.  He  is  very  seldom,  or  never,  a  sneak,  back- 
biter or  snob  ;  but  can  lie  —  for  glory's  sake  —  quite  easily ! 


WOMAN,   LOVE,  AND   MARRIAGE.  333 

He  is  never  a  secret  foe,  but  always  an  open  one.  He  don't 
keep  grudges,  and  lives  for  the  present  Now. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  each  class  has  its  advantages  and 
its  faults.  But  if  you  want  to  see  a  domestic  pandemonium, 
why,  marry  two  brunettes  together.  On  the  other  hand,  if  you 
want  to  see  a  quiet,  interior,  dreadful,  but  smothered  hell,  let 
two  genuine  blondes  come  together,  and  you'll  have  it  —  nicely. 

But  change  the  parties,  and  let  brunette  unite  with  blonde, 
and  you  have  the  elements  of  a  first-class  domestic  paradise  ;  for 
they  offset  each  the  other,  and  there  is  a  natural  fitness  between 
them,  that,  with  prudence  and  care,  will  make  their  path  one  of 
roses  from  the  altar  to  the  grave ! 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

How  heartfully  we  long  and  in  lonely  hours  how  deeply  we 
yearn,  for  him  or  her  whom  we  once  loved,  and  who  loved  us, 
but  from  whom  sad  misunderstandings,  not  real  wrongs,  intended 
as  such,  have  separated  us  !  Oh,  how  bitterly  we  regret  the  un- 
kind look  or  hasty  word  which  broke,  in  a  thoughtless  moment,  the 
silver  links  that  bound  us ;  for  somehow  or  other,  even  though 
intellect  tells  us  it  was  all  right  and  for  the  best,  the  heart — 
pulsing,  throbbing,  hungry,  yearning  heart  —  steadily  refuses  to 
believe  it,  and  still  sighs  for  the  old  discarded  love ;  still  re- 
calls the  sweet  memories  of  days  gone  by,  and  will  not  erase 
the  cherished  images  from  its  graven  tablets  ! 

The  old  love  ivill  come  up,  —  will  surge  its  memories  upon  us 
in  spite  of  the  whirl  of  events,  and  the  swirl  of  current  life,  — 
while  ever  and  anon  it  will  strangely  phantom  itself  in  the 
new  faces  that  now  claim  our  homage,  and  will  sadly,  dreamily, 
smile  upon  us  with  ghostly  yet  benignant  eyes,  from  behind  the 
windows  of  a  new  passion,  builded  on  the  ruins  of  the  old !  No 
wonder  the  "  Prodigal  Son  "  went  home.  Would  that  all  the  prod- 
igal wives  and  husbands  would  snap  their  fingers  at  Mrs.  Grundy, 
take  heart  and  courage,  and  bravely  do  the  same  !  —  for  there's 


334  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

no  love  like  the  old  love,  and  none  but  those  who  have  been  unjust, 
or  sinned  themselves,  can  form  anything  like  an  adequate  idea 
of  the  prodigious  edge  of  joy  once  known  and  felt,  in  the  long 
foretime,  when  love  crowned  the  drama,  and  the  feast  of  life 
was  glad. 

Pride,  false  pride,  keeps  many  really  fond  hearts  apart ;  pre- 
vents a  man  from  owning  up  his  error,  and  a  woman  from  be- 
ing truly  herself;  and  yet,  did  they  but  recall  the  fact  that 
Pride  is  a  servitor,  and  Love  a  born  king,  the  latter  would 
speedily  march  in,  and  the  false  principle  step  out,  for  Love  is 
the  conqueror  by  right  of  descent. 

This  false  pride  is  often  fostered  by  pretended  friends  and 
meddlers,  who,  on  pretence  of  righting  wrongs,  make  things  ten 
times  worse  than  they  were  before.  Such  people  flatter  the 
vanity  of  the  side  they  take,  and  add  obstacles  to  those  already 
existing ;  hence,  it  is  well  to  be  on  one's  guard,  and  to  remem- 
ber that  they  who  too  warmly  espouse  jonr  cause,  and  overrate 
you,  and  traduce  your  recreant,  or  recusant,  or  recalcitrant  one, 
generally  have  some  designs  upon  37ou.     Do  not  forget  this. 

What  people  who  have  love  troubles  mainly  lack  is  courage 
to  do  the  right  thing  in  spite  of  what  the  people  say ;  for  the 
"  people  "  never  make  us  happy,  but  often  quite  miserable  in- 
deed. 

When  a  love  is  unreturned,  some  one  is  in  gehenna ;  and  if 
some  one  suffers,  and  God's  laws  are  just,  some  one  else  must 
be  also  made  unhappy,  and  thus  the  circle  spreads.  When  love 
is  unreciprocated,  it  is  thenceforth  dangerous,  exceedingly,  both 
to  the  unloved  one  and  the  unloving ;  because  such  a  state  of 
things  jars  the  emotional  world,  and  darkens  the  eyes  of  an 
immortal  soul ;  yet  nevertheless,  too  often  what  men  call,  and 
women  fancy  to  be,  true  love,  dies  dead  as  a  door-nail  when 
one  of  its  poiuts  are  gained  ;  and  this  must  react  upon  both  per- 
sons, and  tell  its  bad  story  sooner  or  later,  in  this  life  or  the 
next. 

Too  frequently  love's  young,  or  even  mature  dream  vanishes 
into  thin  air,  because  based  on  the  sliding  sands  of  unsubstantial 
ardor,  and   not  on   solid,  deep-based  regard  and  attachment. 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  335 

When  such  a  union  reaches  the  possessive  climax,  the  thermom- 
eter falls,  and  the  barometer  indicates  stormy  weather  just  ahead  ; 
and  each  comes  down  even  more  rapidly  than  they  rose  within 
the  glass  of  hope  and  life.  While  the  turbulent  fever  reigns  and 
riots  in  the  blood,  tingling  the  nerves  with  exquisite  rapture, 
each  to  the  other  becomes  transformed  into  an  idol,  and  dons 
the  garb  of  seraphhood.  This  continues  until  each  knows  the 
other's  secret,  and  has  nothing  else  to  do  or  give.  Then  comes 
the  death  of  rapture,  and,  could  we  read  them  an  hour  after  each 
has  made  the  sad  discovery,  we  would  behold  the  beginning  of 
many  a  fearful  and  terrible  ending.  He  finds  her  to  be  "  only 
a  woman,  after  all!  —  a  mere  human  female — and  no  great 
shakes  at  that !  "  She  finds  him  to  be  "  only  a  sensuous  brute 
or  half-fool ;  coarse,  mean,  exacting  ;  deficient  in  secret  nobility, 
and,  taken  all  in  all,  a  first-class  sham  and  tremendous  fraud  !  " 

Had  their  love  been  actual,  her  very  presence  would  be  infi- 
nitely dearer  after  than  before;  while  she  to  him  would  be  a 
tower  of  energ}r,  power  and  strength, —  a  sure  and  mighty  refuge 
to  lean  upon  when  wintry  tempests  raged  around,  and  stormy 
winds  in  bitter  fury  blew.  Would  that  it  were  always  so,  but 
alas  !  such  are  exceptions  to  a  general  rule  ! 

Marriage,  instead  of  being  as  it  ought,  a  perpetual  feast  of 
perfect  fellowship,  is,  in  far  too  many  instances,  a  state  of  penal 
servitude  to  the  man,  and  a  similar  slavery  to  the  woman ;  as 
the  legitimate  fruitage  of  which,  brothels  and  social  evils 
abound  ;  the  woman  plays  a  bad  game,  else  sickens  and  dies 
outright ;  and  the  man  becomes  a  frequenter  of  doubtful  places, 
or  some  other  sort  of  madman.  Eugene  Sue  truly  said  :  "Noth- 
ing can  be  more  rational  than  love  ;  nothing  wiser  than  to  wed." 
Both  being  one  in  essence. 

Sad  are  the  times  when  wedded  wives  decay, 

And  brothels  flourish,  and  harlots  bear  the  sway. 

These  are  the  times  !     The  scarlet  banner  waves, 
And  wives,  neglected,  fill  untimely  graves. 

Much  of  it,  doubtless,  springs  from  lack  of  patience  on  both 
sides,  and  strenuous  endeavor  to  mutually  do  better. 


336  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

When  a  man  is  in  abaci  chemical  condition,  or  a  woman  either, 

—  and  her  nervous  structure  renders  her  much  more  irritable,  at 
times,  and  more  sensitive  always,  beside  her  superior  impres- 
sionability to  that  of  man  ;  and  then  her  patience,  as  a  general 
thing,  goes  begging  ;  cool  reason  and  sober  judgment  take  wing, 
and  the  elements  of  varied  and  compound  discord  are  in  prime 
working  order,  —  if  at  that  time  each  would  but  stop  and  con- 
sider themselves,  and  postpone  all  disagreements  till  healthful 
states  of  mind  and  body  permit  them  to  see  things  as  they  ought 
to,  many  a  family  would  remain  concordant  and  unbroken;  for 
most  disagreements  are  merely  verbal,  chemical  in  origin,  super- 
ficial, and  easily  gotten  over. 

Keep  your  private  affairs  to  yourself ;  for  no  one  but  yourself 
is  really  interested  in  hearing  either  the  story  of  your  loves  or 
losses ;  except  perhaps  to  make  your  confidence  a  vantage 
ground  from  whence  to  play  upon  you  in  some  way,  at  some 
time,  when  themselves  may  chance  to  have  an  axe  to  grind,  or  a 
point  to  make  —  at  your  expense  !  The  domestic  affairs  of  peo- 
ple should  never  be  paraded  to  outsiders. 

There  are  some  people  so  constituted  that  they  always  tell  all 
they  know  and  all  they  feel,  hope,  long  for,  or  desire.  There 
are  others  who  seem  wholly  incapable  of  refraining  from  taking 
unfair  advantage  of  what  the}-  thus  become  apprised  of,  and  it 
singularly  chances  that,  in  both  business  and  love  matters,  these 
two  classes  come  together, —  that  is,  the  fools  and  the  sharpers  ; 

—  the  lovers,  or  the  wife  and  husband  lose  confidence  in  each 
other,  and  one  is  ruined  and  the  other  becomes  a  wretch.  In 
love  affairs,  likewise,  it  is  safe  to  never  tell  the  iclwle  story  of  it 
before  marriage,  or  even  after  it —  for  in  the  latter  case  action 
will  tell  it  far  better  than  words  possibly  can  ;  and  it  is  well  in 
all  cases  to  leave  something  to  be  said,  and  more  to  be  done. 
Confidence  carried  to  extremes  does  not  always  beget  similar 
returns  ;  especially  in  heart  concerns,  for  in  these  days  husbands 
and  lovers,  and  sometimes  wives  and  sweethearts,  are  not 
wholly  true,  but  only  so  much  as  the  current  weather  permits. 

Above  all  it  is  excessively  dangerous  to  one's  peace  of  mind 
to  allow  one's  self  to  be  either  baited  or  badgered  into  telling 


WOMAN,   LOrE,   AND  MARRIAGE.  837 

one's  own  strictly  secret  and  private  affairs ;  for  to  do  so  is  to 
that  extent  and  degree  to  put  one's  self  in  another's  power ;  nor 
will  that  other,  no  matter  who  it  may  be,  be  capable  of  resisting 
the  strong  and  delicious  temptation  to  use  the  advantage  such 
knowledge  gives  to  3-our  detriment  and  their  advantage.  If  the 
matter  told  is  a  great  secret,  they  are  sure  to  ensure  their  better 
keeping  of  it  by  taking  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F  and  G,  and,  finally, 
the  whole  infernal  alphabet  of  gossips  and  scandal-mongers 
into  their  "  strictly  private  and  secret  and  wholly  sacred  confi- 
dence," and  before  a  week  rolls  by,  every  one  who  knows  you 
is  rolling  the  exquisite  tit-bits  under  their  tongues.  It  won't  do 
to  unload  your  heart  to  any  one  save  wife  or  husband ;  even 
sisters  and  brothers,  fathers  and  mothers, —  to  say  nothing  about 
mothers-in-law !  may  God  —  bless  them  —  as  the  South  Carolina 
prisoner  blessed  that  Commonwealth  when  they  branded  his 
hand ! 

It  never  pays  to  have  confidants  between  wife  and  husband ; 
nor  to  confide  in  an  outsider  all  one's  business,  or  all  one 
thinks,  feels,  hopes,  expects,  or  even  dreads;  —  and  more  es- 
pecially to  people  who  exhibit  a  taste  and  haste  to  unfreight 
themselves  of  their  private  personal  matters  ;  for  a  dog  who  will 
fetch  a  bone  will  always  carry  one, —  with  a  great  deal  more 
dirt  attached  thereto  than  when  he  found  it ;  while  no  story 
ever  yet  told  lost  anything  in  being  retold,  rehashed,  and  re- 
embellished  ! 

While  it  is  bad,  very  bad,  to  put  too  much  confidence  in 
others,  it  is  equally  so  to  withhold  it  from  each  other  ;  for  es- 
pionage, watching,  distrust,  suspicion,  are  dreadful  things  in 
any  household  ;  and,  what  is  more,  are  perfectly  useless,  because 
no  amount  of  watching  will  make  a  wife  faithful  or  keep  a  hus- 
band straight ;  for  if  either  makes  up  their  mind  to  wrong  the 
other,  nothing  on  earth  but  close  imprisonment  will  avail ;  and 
even  that  has  not  always  proved  effectual,  especially  if  a  woman 
is  the  subject.  Mr.  Connor  suspected  Ms  wife,  and  shut  her  up 
closely  in  her  chamber,  and  then  bought  a  big  bull-dog  and 
turned  him  loose  in  the  hall  to  keep  the  lovers  away.  Late  that 
night  he  heard  voices ;  —  the   lady  and   her  lover  had  made 


338  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

friends  with  the  dog  !  Mr.  Connor  went  upstairs  to  listen.  He 
didn't  listen  long.  Next  day  his  tailor  declared  it  impossible 
ever  to  mend  the  pantaloons  Mr.  Connor  wore  when  he  went  up- 
stairs—  to  listen!  Mr.  Connor  sold  that  dog — very  cheap, 
and  Mr.  Connor's  physician  assured  his  patient  that  if  Mr.  Con- 
nor was  careful,  he  might  be  able  to  sit  down  in  the  course  of 
six  weeks  !  Mr.  Connor  retired  from  the  dog-buying  line  and 
from  watching  his  wife ! 

Trust  a  woman,  and  let  her  know  it,  and  she  cannot  be  either 
coaxed,  bribed  or  bullied  into  being  false  to  you.  But  you  just 
be  suspicious, —  let  her  know  that  your  opinion  is  that  above  all 
sure  things  in  this  world  she  needs  watching ;  and  of  all  sure 
things  in  this  world  she  will  put  a  pair  of  horns  on  your  head 
just  as  easy !  —  and  before  you  have  any  idea  that  such  an  idea 
ever  yet  entered  her  innocent  mind  ! 

She  who  receives  money  or  preaents  from  a  man  from  whom 
she  has  no  right  to  take  it,  will  repay  it  —  but  not  in  the  same 
sort  of  currency ! 

Hearts  dead  to  love  leap  to  life  when  money  jingles  ! 

The  devil,  the  blues,  and  the  whole  infantry  of  hell,  says  the 
Cyngalese  proverb,  visit  the  house  where  singing  is  unknown ; 
but  all  tremble  and  stay  out  where  music  dwells. 

To  rely  wholly  upon,  and  confide  entirely  in,  even  the  ordi- 
narily tried  associates  and  friends  who  surround  you  is  not 
overly  wise.  It  does  not,  never  did,  will  not,  and  can  never, 
pay  to  do  so,  even  for  charity's  sake ;  for  charity  and  pity,  like 
confidence,  trust  and  love,  may  be,  and  often  is,  misapplied ; 
for  those  to  whom  we  give  our  dole  are  in  these  days  often 
rank  impostors,  who  riot  and  revel  at  the  giver's  cost,  in  every 
way,  shape  and  manner  possible. 

It  is  frequently  by  too  much  non-reserve  that  an  honest  woman 
gives  a  false  man  chances  to  deceive  and  ruin  her.  A  woman 
may  be,  and  often  is,  defeated  by  surprise  ;  but  then  she  has 
no  right,  and  ought  never  to  allow  herself  to  be  surprised.  If 
she  suffers  herself  to  be,  and  takes  any  wrong  step  in  conse- 
quence, or  allows  herself  to  be  "  ruined  '  while  in  the  indecisive 


WOMAN,    LOVE,   AXD    MARRIAGE.  339 

frame  of  mind,  as  many  are,  she  has  herself  to  blame,  not  only 
for  her  own  carelessness  and  its  consequences,  but  for  foolishly 
making  herself  a  temptation,  too  strong,  perhaps,  to  be  success- 
fully resisted  by  him  whom  thus  she  tempts,  and  by  whom  she 
falls. 

The  author  has  repeatedly,  in  this  and  other  of  his  works, 
urged  the  tremendous  truth  that  woman  is  the  real  power  of  the 
earth,  and  silently  exerts  more  of  it  on  human  destiny  than  all 
the  men  alive,  or  who  ever  lived, —  a  power  evenly  balanced  for 
good  and  evil ;  and  the  sooner  men  learn  this  fact,  and  educate 
and  treat  her  accordingly,  the  sooner  will  the  world  be  rid  of 
all  that  now  bars  its  onwardness  and  upward  growth. 

There  is  not  much  doubt  that  the  great  majority  of  fallen 
women  come  to  be  what  they  are,  from  a  neglect  of  the 
caution  just  given.  "Who  can  read  the  masterly  description  of 
"Night  Scenes  in  the  Metropolis,"  by  G.  D.  Brown,  and  not 
feel  that  the  victims  of  trust,  love  and  want,  whom  he  describes 
so  pathetically,  are  good  and  worthy  women  at  heart;  and  most 
of  whom,  more  sinned  against  than  sinning,  have  been  surprised 
into  taking  the  first  false  step  ;  and  then,  believing  themselves 
—  but  mistakenly  —  irretrievably  ruined,  and  beyond  the  pale 
of  hope  or  mercy,  have  rushed  blindly  and  headlong  down  the 
steep  grades  of  social  ruin !  Not  many  can  help  so  believing. 
Saj's  Mr.  Brown :  — 

"  To  one  whose  daily  occupation  renders  him  an  observer  of  every  phase 
of  poverty,  ■wretchedness  and  crime,  the  miseries  of  humanity  assume  new 
and  distinct  forms ;  earlier  views  are  found  to  have  been  distorted ;  cause 
as  well  as  effect  is  recognized,  and  the  relationship  of  crime  is  changed. 
He  learns,  from  time  to  time,  that  one  convicted  of  murder  may  be  inno- 
cent, the  supposed  thief  an  honest  man,  and  that  the  beggar  is  not  always 
needy.  Then,  also,  he  learns  that  there  is  a  great  class,  ostracised,  it  is 
true,  by  society,  below  the  level  of  the  poor,  below  the  level  of  the  crimi- 
nal, shut  out  from  the  pale  of  the  church,  almost  shut  out  from  hope  and 
God !  who  are  never  innocent,  who  are  always  wretched,  to  whom  moral- 
ity and  religion  are  but  hollow  masks,  and  life  a  horrid  mockery.  These 
poor  creatures,  who  dress  gayly,  laugh  bitterly,  suffer  immeasurably,  and 
die  gladly,  are  courted  and  shunned;  they  receive  adulation  and  scorn, 
flowers  and  curses.  They  are  young  and  beautiful,  and  accept  the  homage 
of  senators,  judges,  and  doctors;  they  reign  supremely.  After  a  while 
dissipation  produces  illness,  illness  destroys  the  beauty ;  youth,  health  and 


340  woman;  love,  and  marhiage. 

beauty  gone,  their  little  wealth  soon  follows ;  then  comes  the  slow  sinking 
through  all  those  depths  of  degradation  which  society  has  prepared  for 
those  it  condemns.  Hence  it  follows  that  each  city  has  a  sort  of  quaran- 
tine, and  beyond  it,  an  abyss  for  the  living,  and  a  potter's  field  for  the  dead. 

"  New  York  has  built  at  her  prison,  called  the  Tombs,  a  sort  of  causeway 
over  which  the  condemned  pass.  On  the  one  side  is  inscribed,  '  The  way 
of  the  transgressor  is  hard ; '  and  on  the  other,  the  '  Bridge  of  Sighs  ! '  New 
York  might  go  farther,  and  a  few  yards  from  her  great  thoroughfare,  Broad- 
way, in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  her  largest  hotel  palaces,  place  a  placard, 
and  write,  '  Abandon  all  hope,  ye  who  enter  here  !  ' 

"We  are  writing  of  night  scenes  in  the  city,  of  what  one  meets  in  the 
streets  and  about  the  streets,  at  an  hour  when  the  rich  and  the  prosperous, 
the  good  and  the  honest,  are  supposed  to  be  slumbering;  when  the  phan- 
toms of  gaunt  famine  haunt  the  shadows,  and  sin  and  crime  hold  revelry. 
Society,  which  creates  many  of  its  victims,  should  be  made  acquainted 
with  the  condition  of  its  sad  handiwork;  and  first  of  all,  let  us  present  to 
that  proud  parent  its  fairest  daughters,  earliest  ruined,  most  bitterly  blasted, 
who  wander  in  every  street  and  avenue  of  the  city, —  frail  ones,  whom  it 
is  indeed  a  bitter  sarcasm  to  designate  as  the  demi-monde. 

"  You  who  each  sunny  afternoon  traverse  the  most  fashionable  prome- 
nades of  the  city,  up  Broadway,  on  Fifth  Avenue,  are  continually  passing 
groups  of  beautiful  girls,  richly  dressed,  fresh  from  the  hands  of  the 
coiffure,  many  of  them  having  a  distingue  appearance,  and  faultlessly  ele- 
gant carriage.  They  are  the  '  observed  of  all  observers  ; '  they  present  a 
charming  appearance  of  modesty  and  naivete.  Their  rich  dresses  rustle 
against  others  worn  by  j'oung  ladies  of  the  haut  ton,  sometimes  more 
fashionable,  seldom  more  fair.  Their  bright  eyes  drop  softly  before  the 
stare  of  the  daughter  of  Avealth,  and  then,  perhaps,  beam  with  a  strange 
light  of  recognition  for  her  brother,  walking  at  her  side.  Those  eyes  be- 
tray their  owner.  If  they  are  blue  or  gray,  they  have  a  cold,  hard  glitter; 
if  they  are  brown  or  black,  they  assume  a  look  of  intensity,  fading  into  a 
soft,  dreamy  haze.     These  are  the  reigning  beauties  of  the  demi-monde. 

"As  evening  draws  on,  and  the  shop  windows  are  lighted,  you  may  see 
them  more  and  more  frequently,  till,  as  the  hours  pass  by,  in  every  part  of 
the  immense  city,  presenting  every  grade  of  comeliness,  every  variety  of 
costume,  they  appear,  pass  by,  and  reappear,  till  they  seem  legion.  Many 
of  these,  in  their  admirable  physique  and  their  fresh,  brilliant  complexion, 
would  compare  favorably  with  the  vaunted  beauties  of  many  lands.  Ar- 
tists affirm  that  among  them  are  found  higher  types  of  physical  beauty 
than  exist  in  almost  any  other  class,  and  that  examples  arc  abundant. 

"  The  number  of  these  beautiful  ones  changes  from  time  to  time:  it 
passes  from  its  maximum  to  its  minimum  in  three  years.  At  the  same 
time,  this  does  not  prevent  some  from  lingering  after  their  turn  has  come 
to  go  away.  Some,  still  considered  as  among  the  fairest,  were  met  here 
six,  and  even  nine  years  ago.  While  they  remain,  hundreds  whom  they 
knew  in  the  first  flush  of  youth  and  beauty  have  gone  to  their  long  home, 
perhaps  to  be  forgiven !     Who  knows  ! 

"  Though  these  poor  creatures  find  some  place  they  call  home  in  nearly 
every  locality,  as  they  pace  every  street,  still  the  greater  number  are  gath- 
ered together  in  a  place  we  have  briefly  referred  to  before,  and  which  may 
not  inaptly  be  termed  the  '  Place  of  Sighs.' 

"In  this  neighborhood,  which  includes  the  larger  portion  of  the  Eighth 
and  Fourteenth  Wards,  they  occupy  a  large  share  of  the  houses,  which  are 
interspersed  with  drinking-saloons,  coffee-houses,  oyster-cellars  and  sup- 
per-rooms.    On  each  corner,  like  a  gloomy  sentinel,  stands  the  sample- 


WOMAX,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  341 

room  or  '  gin-mill.'  On  each  side  of  the  streets  are  the  rows  of  houses 
once  the  dwelling-places  of  well-to-do  or  opulent  shop  keepers.  They  pre- 
sent a  deserted  and  funereal  appearance,  with  blinds  all  closed  and  a  still- 
ness that  death  produces  when  he  enters  —  a  sort  of  shadow  from  the  grave. 
In  these  houses  they  occupy  rooms,  usually  furnished  and  let  at  prices 
varying  from  three  to  twenty-fire  dollars  per  week,  and  of  which  they  are 
not  always  the  only  occupants.  Sometimes,  alas  !  they  contain  an  aged  wom- 
an, a  mother !  oftener  a  little  child;  but  much  more  often  there  hangs  about 
a  being— -  a  sort  of  horrible  excrescence  thrown  otf  from  suffering  and  dis- 
eased humanity,  an  object  so  loathsome  and  vile  that  we  have  neither  lan- 
guage to  describe-  nor  name  to  call  him. 

"  And  here  is  what  sometimes  occurs  in  this  nineteenth  century,  that  is 
infamous : 

"  The  city  of  New  York,  which  is  a  great  city,  sometimes  chooses  to  be 
hospitable  and  generous ;  it  determines  to  entertain  by  a  great  ball  and 
banquet  the  princes,  nobles,  and  civic  or  military  dignitaries  of  some  re- 
spectable foreign  power.  '  No  expense  is  spared ; '  the  fete  is  gorgeous  ! 
magnificent !  killing !  Every  one  is  delighted  —  at  least  every  one  one 
cares  for,  and  the  guests  feel  deeply  gratified  and  highly  honored.  By  and 
by  a  strange  thing  comes  to  light.  These  affairs  are  usually  gotten  up  by 
some  ring,  and  must  be  promptly  paid  for.  They  cost  generally  from  one 
hundred  thousand  to  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  dollars.  Now,  suppose 
money  is  at  a  low  ebb  in  the  city  coffers,  what  is  done?  A  consultation  is 
held,  and  in  the  evening  an  arrangement  is  made.  The  next  morning  the 
police  courts  and  station-houses  are  filled  with  '  nymphs  du  pave ; '  they 
are  fined  ten,  twenty,  thirty  dollars  each,  and  the  debt  is  paid! ! 

"  In  some  cities  these  fines  are  made,  on  special  occasions,  a  hundred 
dollars  each,  or  one  year  in  the  work-house,  but  then  they  have  few  girls. 
There  are  men  in  some  cities  whose  fortunes  are  made  in  this  way. 

"  On  such  occasions  as  these,  this  thing,  which  we  cannot  describe,  be- 
comes for  the  moment  useful  to  the  one  who  feeds  and  clothes  him.  He 
pawns  her  clothes  and  pays  her  fine  with  the  proceeds,  or  else,  as  this  some- 
times happens,  he  gives  the  rich  hats,  dresses  and  laces  to  another,  and 
allows  the  owner  to  be  sent  to  '  the  Island,' — fearful  words  to  these  poor 
wretches. 

"  There  are  police  officers  in  this  place  who  are  sometimes  very  good 
men,  but  are  generally  ignorant  and  cruel.  They  are,  after  all,  much  like 
other  mortals,  with  likes  and  dislikes;  they  have  favorites  and  victims. 
Sometimes  this  favoritism  leads  to  crime,  and  this  victimizing  to  murder. 

"There  are  other  houses  here,  called  boarding-places,  whose  inmates 
sometimes  live  entirely  within  their  walls,  or  are  allowed  to  go  out  for  a 
walk  of  one  or  two  hours,  or  perhaps  half  a  day,  once  each  week.  In  the 
majority  of  cases  they  do  no  not  suffer  so  many  restrictions,  and  on  Satur- 
day or  Sunday  night  have  a  certain  liberty.  On  entering  these  places,  they 
are  first  burthened  with  debt  for  clothes  at  exorbitant  prices,  or  board ; 
and  from  this  indebtedness  it  is  hard  to  escape ;  it  clings  to  them  and  binds 
them  to  the  place.  The  girl  is  usually  forced  to  pay  the  'Madame'  five 
to  twelve  dollars  per  week  for  her  board,  in  addition  to  the  half  of  her 
earnings.  In  these  houses  they  soon  learn  —  if  they  have  not  already  ac- 
quired it — the  habit  of  constant  and  deep  drinking.  Intoxication  spreads 
among  all.  Immersed  in  guilt  and  misery,  too  wicked  to  pray,  and  not 
daring  to  think,  they  drown  the  'still,  small  voice  within'  in  liquor  and 
wine.  There  are  exceptions  to  this,  —  those  who  drink  very  sparingly ; 
perhaps  a  few  who  do  not  drink  at  all. 

"Among  all  these  there  are  many  who  are  generous, —  few  who,  in  their 


342      .  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MAMIIAGE. 

utter  wretchedness,  do  not  find  time  to  pity  others  perhaps  less  unfortu- 
nate. The  thoroughly  delicate  and  womanly  deeds  of  charity  performed  by 
some  of  these  girls,  would  put  to  shame  the  boasted  benevolence  of  women 
in  high  places.     Beggars  know  this. 

"  Sometimes  these  poor  beings,  in  the  ashes  of  their  soul,  keep  alive 
sparks  which  scintillate  with  the  divine  flame ;  here  is  one  incident  from 
hundreds : — 

"  One  winter,  on  a  cold  bitter  morning,  while  the  prisoners  were  waiting 
for  examination  in  the  hall  of  Jefferson  Market  Police  Court,  a  party  of 
young  inebriates,  overflowing  with  meanness  inspired  by  bad  whiskey, 
gathered  about  an  old  decrepit  man,  much  drunker  than  themselves,  and, 
for  amusement,  were  dashing  water  upon  him.  For  some  time  they  kept 
up  the  sport,  when  a  woman,  richly  dressed,  rushed  between  them  and  their 
victim,  regardless  of  the  water  showered  upon  her,  and  covering  him  with 
her  person,  launched  upon  the  loafers  a  rebuke  so  scathing  and  full  of  in- 
tense scorn,  that  they  fell  back,  awed  and  silent,  to  their  benches.  Her 
noble  indignation  made  even  these  hardened  and  debased  beings  utterly 
ashamed. 

"A  few  moments  after  this  occurred,  a  flashily-dressed  young  wretch 
came  towards  her,  and,  taking  her  hand,  unconsciously  touched  a  plain 
gold  ring  she  wore.  She  drew  her  hand  away  with  a  look  of  horror ;  he 
endeavored  to  regain  it,  and  examine  the  ring,  when,  turning  upon  him, 
she  said,  '  My  mother,  a  saint  in  heaven,  wore  that  ring'and  gave  it  to  me 
dying;  should  you  again  defile  it  by  your  touch,  I  would  kill  you.' 

"  That  woman,  who  was  thirty  years  old,  had  been  on  the  street  ten 
years. 

"All  nationalities  and  all  classes  of  society  are  represented  here.  You 
may  see  the  Italian  ballet  girl  hand  in  hand  with  the  Parisian  artiste,  Ger- 
man girls  from  the  bier-gartens  and  Irish  girls  from  hotels  and  boarding- 
houses,  Biscayan  girls  from  Spain,  and  Creole  girls  from  Cuba ;  English 
girls  from  the  manufacturing  and  University  cities,  and  from  that  great 
modern  Babylon,  London.  There  are  a  few  Indian  girls,  of  late  from  the 
Western  Reservations,  and  great  numbers  of  African  descent,  of  every 
shade  of  complexion.  There  are  Jewesses  of  many  countries,  who  always 
preserve  their  own  t3'pe,  and  Scotch  girls  who  always  wear  the  plaid. 

"  We  have  said  they  are  from  all  classes.  Some  are  daughters  of  men 
who  are  or  have  been  merchant  princes.  One  came  here  a  few  months  ago 
whose  brother  is  the  Mayor  of  a  Western  city.  The  first  week  she  lost 
her  trunk,  her  clothes,  and  five  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  all  her  money, 
and  with  it  her  watch.  Robbed,  turned  out  into  the  street,  the  second 
week  found  her  on  the  Island,  and  the  fourth  week  she  died. 

"  A  wealthy  planter  brought  his  daughter  here  the  first  year  of  the  war. 
Leaving  her  at  school,  he  paid  for  her  studies,  board,  and  allowance  for 
clothes,  for  two  years,  depositing,  in  addition,  five  thousand  dollars  for 
contingencies.  He  became  a  distinguished  field  officer  of  the  Confederate 
army,  was  killed  early  in  the  war,  and  his  daughter  turned  into  the  street, 
now  lives  in  this  '  place  of  sighs.' 

"  New  England  factory  towns  send  many  here,  city  manufactories  add 
many  more,  and  tew  towns  are  so  small,  throughout  the  North  and  West, 
that  they  have  not  sent  one  or  more  to  represent  them  here. 

"What  light  do  statistics  throw  upon  this  subject? 

"  Superintendent  Kennedy,  of  the  Metropolitan  Police,  reported,  in  18G6, 
three  thousand  three  hundred  prostitutes  (including  girls  in  concert  sa- 
loons, some  of  whom  were  virtuous).     They  increase  at  the  rate  of  about 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  343 

eeven  hundred  per  annum,  which  would  give  us,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
present  year,  about  six  thousand  one  hundred. 

"  Bishop  Simpson's  estimate  in  1866  was  twenty  thousand. 

"  Yet  people  find  time  to  cry  over  the  misfortunes  of  the  heroine  in  each 
new  novel,  and  to  send  red  flannel  waistcoats  to  the  little  Hottentots  ! 

"  In  addition  to  this,  what  can  we  say  of  this  place  of  sighs,  and  those  it 
contains  ? 

"  Of  the  mass  we  can  say  this  :  — 

"They  are  afflicted  with  a  species  of  insanity  which  loses  the  power  of 
thought.  Calculations  slip  away  from  them,  and  elude  them.  The  past  is 
terrible  and  bitter.  In  it  they  see  a  grim,  fiendish  face,  laughing  at  and 
mocking  them.  They  resolutely  close  their  eyes  to  shut  out  the  possible 
monster  lurking  in  the  future.  They  endeavor  to  be  frivolous ;  to  chase 
one  thought  rapidly  away  by  another;  to  imitate  the  forgetfulness  and  vio- 
lent transitions  of  madness  —  and  they  succeed. 

"Society  creates  them,  and  is  ashamed  of  them;  meets  them,  and 
ignores  them — the  daylight  scorns  them.  Night  only  —  the  abyss  which 
received  them  —  is  proud  of  them,  opens  its  arms,  and  protects.  In  the 
night  they  reign.  Entering  the  gloom,  it  enfolds  them  lovingly,  and  grad- 
ually there  grows  up  in  their  soul  trust  and  hope,  a  confiding  in,  almost  a 
yearning  for,  the  gloom  of  the  grave. 

"  And  this  frail  one,  alone  ;  perhaps  as  much  sinned  against  as  sinning  — 
what  of  her? 

"After  the  passion,  gayety,  and  splendor  of  a  ball-room  night,  she  is 
dashed  to  the  earth,  into  the  mire.  Blinded,  in  agony,  half  crazed,  she 
gropes  about  till  she  find?  the  grave.  She  has  not  found  this  world  a  pleas- 
ant place,  nor  a  beautiful  one  to  live  in ;  and  perhaps,  in  the  depths  of  hei 
heart,  she  clings  to  a  vague  hope,  a  sunbeam  which  has  strayed  there  from 
her  childhood's  soul,  and  which  she  has  cherished  —  God  only  knows  how 
—  that  perhaps,  when  she  is  dead,  people  will  forgive,  and  — 

"  '  Think  of  her  kindly. 
Gently,  and  humanly.' 

"Rough  hands  will  place  the  once  beautiful  and  dainty  form  in  a  coarse 
deai  coffin,  that  is,  if  she  has  been  spared  the  experiments  of  medical  stu- 
dents at  the  hospital  while  living,  and  the  dissecting  knife  when  dead.  They 
will  convey  her  to  an  obscure  corner  of  the  potter's  field,  and  place  her  in 
an  unmarked  grave.  By  and  by,  the  grass  will  grow  green  above  it  — 
green  as  it  does  above  other  graves.  In  summer  the  rain  will  patter  down 
upon  it,  the  birds  will  sing  over  it ;  in  winter  the  snow  will  cover  it  with  a 
pure  white  mantle.  In  a  little  while  all  traces  of  it  will  be  lost.  People 
will  have  forgotten  her,  not  forgiven. 

"Perhaps  God  is  less  pitiless  than  mortals.  It  is  said  He  notes  the  fall 
of  a  sparrow. 

"Will. He  forget?" 

The  writer  of  this  book  thinks  not !  nor  will  He  fail  to  remem- 
ber him  who  does  such  wicked  deeds,  as  people  our  streets  with 
lost  souls  !  —  shall  he  say  ?  No  !  for  believing  God  to  be  most 
merciful,  most  compassionate,  all  these  wandering  ones  will  one 
day  be  gathered  into  His  blessed  fold,  who  doeth  all  things 
well! 


344  WOMAN,  LOVB,   AND  MARRIAGE. 

Poor  .harlot  i  may  God  pity  and  compassionate  her,  for  men 
seldom  do,  and  women  never,  unless  she  turns  out,  in  her  de- 
spair, to  be  a  first-class  sensational  murderess,  and  then,  both 
classes  pity  and  lionize  her.  But  not  if  she  be  poor,  ill-clad, 
rather  rough  in  speech,  and  so  trodden  down  that  she  dies  a 
daily  death  ;  she  is  so  crushed,  so  low,  so  fallen,  so  despised,  so 
trampled  on  by  saints  and  sinners  alike,  from  the  surpliced 
priest  to  the  midnight-burglar  and  assassin,  with  hands  wet  with 
human  blood,  and  soul  stained  with  human  murder.  Despised, 
hated,  shunned,  and  patronized!  How  we  hate  and  slander, 
vilify  and  abuse,  all  fallen  women !  and  yet  how  suddenly  we 
change  our  tune,  and  pipe  a  different  music  when  one  of  our 
own  kith  and  kin  is  whirled  and  swirled  along  the  dreadful 
tide !  Then !  ah,  then !  we  begin  to  realize  forbearance  and 
charity. 

Within  these  latter  years  there  has  gone  forth,  on  its  destruc- 
tive mission,  a  most  mischievous  doctrine,  to  the  effect  that 
"whatever  is  is  right ;  "  a  sort  of  "philosophical"  carte  blanche 
for  deeds  that  are  not,  and  never  can  be  right.  To  help  crush 
out  this  withering  falsity ;  to  assert  the  supremacy  of  con- 
science, divine  order  and  law  ;  to  help  explode  this  revived 
fallacy,  and  to  call  back  the  wandering  souls  who,  allured  by 
its  glare,  may  have  strayed  away  from  the  true  path,  —  is  the 
reason  that  the  author  here  reproduces  a  few  pages  from  a  lec- 
ture of  his,  once  published  in  pamphlet  form,  and  afterwards 
reprinted  in  his  work  called  "  Disembodied  Man."  In  this 
quotation  the  pronoun  "I"  appears  for  the  first  time  direct 
from  the  author  in  this  book ;  for  which  he  craves  pardon,  re- 
marking that,  as  it  is  a  lecture,  the  apparent  impropriety  could 
not  well  be  avoided.  And,  as  but  few  who  will  read  this 
book  have'  seen  the  others,  it  is  here  given  a$  an  excusable 
repetition :  — 

Education  has  much  to  do  in  man  and  woman's  final  making  up.  There 
is  a  deal  of  good  in  every  soul  —  whole  mountains  and  rivers  thereof;  but 
there  is  also  much  that  may  be  perverted  —  many  a  little  brooklet  of  very 
bitter  water.  In  human  education  many  of  these  have  been  unduly  in- 
creased, till  now  they  threaten  to  overflow  the  whole  estate.  Let  us  dam 
them  up,  cut  off  the  supply,  and  see  to  it  that  these  brooklets  —  the  pas- 


W0MA3T,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  345 

eions  and  bad  tendencies  —  be  not  caused  to  flourish  by  such  culture  as  the 
oft-quoted  maxims  would  encourage. 

The  age  of  extremes  of  one  sort  —  now,  happily,  sliding  away  —  bids 
fair  to  be  succeeded  by  another  kind,  unless  good  men  and  earnest  women 
6eek  to  check  it  ere  too  strongly  grown  and  mind-entrenched. 

We  stand  in  the  door  of  the  dawn,  fully  persuaded  that  the  sun  now 
rising  will,  ere  long,  gladden  the  hearts  and  homes  of  men.  We  have  had 
a  surfeit  of  Philosophy,  and  we  need  a  little  common  sense.  The  fact 
ihat  the  race  can  see  the  first  gleams  of  a  better  day,  constitutes  no  just 
reason  why  any  man  or  woman  should  assume  an  attitude  of  self-com- 
placency, and  proclaim  alike  to  those  who  can,  and  those  who  cannot  think 
clearly,  that  all  the  sin  and  sorrow,  vice  and  misery,  now  causing  the  very 
land  to  groan  beneath  the  heavy  load,  is  all  right.  Because  to  do  so  is  to 
proclaim  —  a  lie  !  —  and  never  was,  nor  can  be,  otherwise.  It  will  not  do 
to  shift  the  responsibility  of  all  existing  evils  from  ourselves  to  the  Creator. 
Why?  Because  man's  actions  are  mainly  volitional  results,  and  spring 
from  his  great  prerogative  —  limited — liberty  of  choice  !  Hence  God  is 
no  more  responsible  for  your  deeds  or  mine,  than  we  are  for  those  of  our 
descendants  forty  centuries  hence.  Were  it  otherwise,  then  creation  is  a 
stupendous  farce,  and  God  becomes  our  inveterate  enemy,  instead  of  being 
what  I  believe  Him  —  our  best  and  most  benignant  friend.  The  Infinite 
One  created,  made,  fashioned  and  decreed  the  progression  and  procession 
of  all  things.  But  His  work  is  not  yet  done  —  the  mighty  task  is  not  yet 
completed ;  for  He  is  at  this  day  still  working  up  the  worlds  toward  the 
standard  Himself  can  only  know.  He  is  still  present  with,  and  over  us,  in 
all  His  divine  Fatherhood  and  Providence ;  He  still  smiles  when  we  do  His 
will  —  still  grieves,  as  of  yore,  at  all  that  is  bad  or  brutal,  unseemly,  un- 
manly, unwomanly  and  wrong ! 

No,  no ;  it  will  not  do  to  charge  God  with  our  shortcomings,  and  none 
but  an  arrant  coward  would  seek  to  crawl  away  from  the  presence  of  the 
music  himself  has  evoked!  Every  true  philanthropist  —  and  these,  be  it 
known,  are  not  such  as  talk  Temperance,  and  fatten  on  the  Worm  of  the 
Still  —  are  not  such  as  publicly  mourn  over  harlotry,  and  let  houses  for  its 
prosecution —  are  not  such  as  say,  "  It  is  all  right,"  and  by  their  daily  ac- 
tions give  themselves  the  lie  direct ;  are  not  such  as  commiserated  poor 
Pompey  and  voted  him  back  to  the  gyves  ;  are  not  such  as  went  into  holy 
hysterics  once  a  year,  and  from  gayly-thronged  platforms  proclaimed  the 
negro  a  man  and  a  brother,  and  next  day  "  damned  his  black  picture  "  be- 
cause he  offered  love  to  their  daughters,  or  attempted  to  sit  down  at  the 
same  table  —  merely  by  way  of  testing  their  honesty,  and  perpetrating  a 
"  black  joke  "  at  the  same  time ;  not  the  strong-minded  ones  who  are  so 
rampant  for  woman's  rights,  public  applause,  oratory  and  fanaticism,  that 
they  must  needs  enlist  for  life  in  a  warfare  against  all  men  —  not  one  of 
whom  they  ever  made  happy  for  a  single  hour;  not  your  lady  of  harsh 
voice  and  vinegar  soul,  who,  in  the  business  of  world-saving,  "  goes  it  with 
a  rush,"  to  the  utter  neglect  of  the  fireside,  the  husband,  the  baby,  and  the 
dear,  sweet  home;  not  the  Spiritualist,  who  talks  exceedingly  spiritual  — 
and  acts  as  if  the  body  and  its  gratifications  were  the  only  things  worth 
while  attending  to ;  not  the  Harmonialist,  whose  harmony  of  life,  deed  and 
influence  partakes  of  the  nature  of  filing  saws  and  discordant  penny  trum- 
pets ;  not  of  this  sort  is  the  true  philanthropist ;  but  rather  he  (or  she)  who 
in  a  quiet  way  does  all  the  good  possible  —  and  sticks  to  it.  Every  such 
an  one,  I  repeat,  realizes  that  the  world  needs  bettering;  and  for  that 
reason  feels  called  upon  to  encourage  much  less  "talkee,  talkec,"  and 
much  more  action,  action,  with  strong  arm,  steady  purpose,  and  in  the 


346  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

right  direction.  Evils — tremendous,  soul-dwarfing,  spirit-subjugating 
evils — such  as  now  afflict  the  world,  can  never  be  talked  down;  they 
must  be  written,  worked,  lived,  and  fought  down ;  and  the  true  business  of 
every  man  and  woman  who  wishes  well  to  the  world,  is  to  be  up  and  doing, 
and  keep  doing  all  the  while.  Will  the  evils  whereof  we  so  justly  com- 
plain—  prostitution,  for  instance  —  disappear  if  we  merely  stand  idly  look- 
ing on,  proclaiming  that  it  is  all  right,  and  voting  ourselves  philosophers, 
when  we  approach  much  nearer  being  fools  ?  He  or  she  who  thinks  so  is 
neither  man  nor  woman,  but  only  a  sort  of  "  What  is  it?  "  very  interesting 
to  look  at  and  listen  to,  but  a  "  What  is  it?  "  nevertheless. 

See!  yonder  goes  a  woman;  she  is  fallen,  degraded,  lost  to  every  sense 
of  decency  or  shame.  Her  present  mission  is  to  sell  herself  for  so  much 
ready  coin  to  the  first  human  brute  who  will  purchase  her.  Does  she  do 
this  fearful  sin  from  the  pure  love  of  sinning?  No!  she  does  it  that  she 
may  hand  over  the  jingling  deity  to  the  baker  in  exchange  for  —  bread! 
bread  sir,  to  keep  her  soul  within  her  body  yet  a  little  while,  and  to  keep 
that  body  above  the  ground  for  just  a  little  longer.  She  is  coarse  and 
untidy,  uses  bad  language,  and  is  low;  but  still,  she  is  —  a  woman  —  like 
your  mother  and  like  mine  —  and  like  them  too,  she  was  once  pure,  and 
sweet,  and  beautiful,  and  good;  but  ah,  Christ!  how  fallen,  oh,  how 
fallen !  Yes,  she  was  once  like  them ;  God  grant  that  they  never  be  like 
her.  Is  she  fulfilling  her  proper  destiny?  Virtue  is  natural;  vice  is 
acquired.  Bias  towards  either  is  hereditary.  Circumstance  governs  the 
fate  of  many  unfortunates  like  that  woman  :  she,  nor  you,  nor  I,  can  con- 
trol circumstance  alone,  but  we  can  join  the  army  of  Goodness,  before 
which  bad  circumstance  must  fly,  and  better  take  its  place.  Come,  let's 
do  it.  Let  us  see  how  many  of  such  fallen  ones  we  can  save  in  a  year  — 
this  very  identical  current  year.     Try  !     Won't  you  ? 

The  woman,  that  wretched  sister!  Is  she  and  her  actions  all  right? 
Nonsense !  Blasphemy  to  assert  it !  She  is  sliding  down  the  hill  of  ruin, 
and  will  reach  the  fatal  bottom,  unless  those  who  can,  shall,  and  will,  put 
forth  the  effort  to  redeem  and  save  her.  She,  poor  thing;  and  there  are 
millions  of  such,  —  pore's  the  pity,  and  the  shame,  to  those  who  have  made 
her  and  them  what  we  see,  —  she  is  marring  the  beauty  of  her  deathless  soul ; 
is  killing  by  inches  the  body  she  wears  ;  is  defacing  the  priceless  tablets  of 
her  immortal  being;  and  whoever  says  all  this  is  right,  is  a  fit  subject  for 
the  lunatic  hospital.  And  yet  there  are  those  who  do  make  this  preposterous 
assertion.  Now  hundreds,  aye,  thousands,  there  be,  who  do  not  scruple  to 
brand  that  woman,  — the  unhappy  representative  of  an  entire  class,  —  with 
all  sorts  of  infamous  and  opprobrious  epithets,  instead  of,  as  they  ought, 
saying  and  doing  all  they  can  to  reclaim  and  save  her.  They  rack  the  lan- 
guage for  harsh  names  to  apply  to  her,  until  the  poor  creature,  feeling, 
most  bitterly  feeling,  that  no  kind  heart  throbs  for  her,  no  tenderness  is, 
or  ever  will  be,  vouchsafed ;  that  she  must  remain  a  victim  to  the  spirit  of 
human  cruelty,  or  what  is,  if  possible,  still  worse  —  mock  charity ;  feeling 
all  this,  and  that  she  must  continue  to  grope  her  way  all  alone  through  the 
world,  and  then  drop  prematurely  and  uncared  for  into  the  cold  damp  grave 
from  a  still  colder  world,  and  all  unprepared,  crawl  up  to  the  judgment 
seat ;  feeling  all  this  and  more,  it  is  no  great  marvel  that  her  heart  grows 
hard,  and  her  once  pure  soul  now  totters  on  the  very  brink  of  desperation, 
while  she  eats,  drinks  and  sleeps,  the  food  and  drink  and  slumber  of  vice 
and  infamy,  day  by  day,  and  week  after  week.  Look ! .  there  she  has 
accosted  a  man  upon  the  side-walk,  but  scarce  has  a  single  word  passed  ere 
one  of  the  patent  guardians  or  costodians  of  the  Public  Morals,  —  an  indi- 
vidual in  blue  coat,  brass  buttons  and  large  authority,  who  has  just  tossed 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE.  347 

off  a  glass  of  the  "good  Rhein  wein," —  the  generous  proffer  of  a  hurly 
ruffian  who  can  afford  to  pay  for  the  protection  of  his  magnificent  looking- 
glasses  and  marble  counters,  behind  which  he  stands  to  deal  out  liquid  ruin 
at  so  much  the  glass,  —  catches  sight  of  the  cyprian  plying  her  dreadful 
trade.  She,  he  knows,  cannot  pay,  and  so  he  grows  indignantly  scrupulous, 
gruffly  tells  her  to  move  on,  and  accelerates  her  movements  with  a  round 
oath  or  two,  and  a  not  very  gentle  push.  She  mutely  obeys,  because  resist- 
ance is  out  of  the  question,  besides  which  she  knows  that  he  carries  a  legally 
authorized  bludgeon  in  his  pocket,  and  that  he  would  not  hesitate  to  use  it 
on  the  slightest  pretext,  upon  either  herself  or  any  one  who  should  expos- 
tulate or  counsel  gentler  measures,  —  a  very  dirty  bludgeon  it  is  too,  —  still 
he  tries  to  keep  it  clean,  and  once  in  a  while  washes  it  of  the  blood-spots 
and  cleans  it  of  the  matted  hair,  —  human  hair,  —  from  the  heads  of  the 
last  half-dozen  drunken  sots  whom  he  found  asleep  upon  the  side-walks, 
and  took  such  Christian  means  to  arouse  from  their  airy  slumbers.  But 
why  should  we  find  fault  ?  Isn't  he  a  Regular  Policeman  ?  Well,  be  quiet 
then,  and  don't  complain.  What  better  can  you  expect?  Is  it  at  all  rea- 
sonable to  demand  that  an  officer  should  have  plenty  of  muscle,  and  a  heart 
at  the  same  time  ?  Nonsense.  Now  I  ask  if  all  the  parts,  or  any  of  this 
true  picture  are  right?  and  I  answer  No!  and  the  utterance  is  both  deep 
and  full;  so  deep,  so  loud,  so  full  that  the  very  vaults  of  Heaven  echo  back, 
and  ring  out  No  ! 

No  human  being  exists  but  in  whom  the  germs  of  the  generous  and  good, 
the  beautiful  and  the  true  lie,  ready  to  shoot  forth  into  excellent  glory.  We 
know  this,  and  know  it  well.  These  germs  may  be  in  fallow  ground,  still 
they  are  there,  and  it  is  your  business,  and  that  of  every  one  else,  to  so 
plough  this  fallow  land  that  it  shall  cause  seeds  to  springup  and  thriftily  grow. 
What  though  the  soil  be  hard  and  stony,  dry  and  parched;  the  fruit  of  the 
culture  will  be  rich  and  succulent,  for  the  warming  beams  of  God's  sunlight 
and  grace  will  perfect  and  ripen  the  produce,  and  it  shall  be  immortally 
sweet,  eternally  beautiful  and  fragrant,  forever  and  for  aye ! 

Reader,  have  you  never  observed  the  fact  that  even  the  very  bad  and  vicious 
occasionally  flash  forth  somewhat  of  the  Divine,  —  sometimes  gleam  out 
the  hidden  glory?  Well,  there's  amine  of  diamonds  in  every  soul,  and  God 
and  nature,  and  all  human  love  calls  on  you  and  to  bring  these  diamonds 
forth  to  the  sunlight,  that  they  may  catch  the  radiance  of  Heaven,  and 
flash  out  their  glories  on  the  air  and  to  the  world,  kindling  up  the  emula- 
tion of  virtue  and  excellent  doing  in  all  human  souls. 

There  goes  that  abandoned  woman.  Let  us  follow  her  —  this  prostitute 
—  this  lost  and  ruined  sister  —  this  creature,  fashioned  after  the  likeness 
of  our  God,  but  now,  alas,  so  supremely  foul  and  wretched.  She  is  hieing 
homeward!  Homeward?  what  a  mockery  that  word  conveys  !  yet  she  has 
what  she  calls  a  home,  and  beneath  that  shelter,  such  as  it  is,  lies  at  this 
moment,  upon  its  pallet  of  straw,  a  babe  —  her  child  —  bone  of  her  bone, 
and  flesh  of  her  flesh.  Poor  infant !  truly  begotten  in  sin  and  brought 
forth  in  iniquity;  but  none  the  less  a  precious,  priceless,  immortal  soul  for 
all  that  —  a  soul  just  as  dear  as  any  for  which  God's  Son,  as  we  are  taught, 
forsook  the  courts  of  glory  and  came  to  earth  to  suffer  and  to  die  on  the 
stony  heights  of  Cavalry  —  a  soul  just  as  precious  to  the  Infinite  heart  as  the 
best  born  of  earth  —  because  it  is  a  human  soul,  and  His  life  pulses  through 
it  as  well  as  through  you  or  I,  or  the  holiest  ones  of  earth  or  heaven ; 
and,  albeit,  we  may,  and  as  virtuous  citizens  of  the  great  Avorld,  can  but 
frown  upon  the  guilt  and  folly  that  opened  the  gate  by  the  which  it  entered 
into  outer  being  —  yet  nevertheless^  is  a  soul,  and  as  such  has  crying 
claims  upon  our  love,  and  care,  and  kindliness ;  for  being  here  is  not  that 


3-18  WQMAX,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

blessed  baby's  fault,  and  in  the  coming  judgment,  God's  prosecuting  angel 
will  hold  it  accountable  for  its  own  sins,  not  for  its  mother's  sorrows  and 
misfortunes.  And  even  for  its  own  shortcomings,  Sandalphon,  the  Prayer- 
angel,  will  eloquently  plead  at  the  feet  of  the  crucified  Kedeemer,  nor  will 
he  plead  in  vain  ! 

Well,  she  has  left  the  highway  and  turned  down  a  narrow,  dark,  and 
dreadful  alley,  one  of  these  horrible  sinks  of  moral  poison,  pestilence  and 
perdition  —  the  awful  and  disgusting  vice-cancers,  sin-blotches,  and  fester- 
ing pest-lanes,  which  are  the  eternal  disgrace  of  all  the  great  cities  of  the 
world :  infamous  purlieus  of  misery,  wherein  gaunt  Robbery  moodily 
sits  plotting  his  villany,  and  pale  Murder  lies  nursing  red-handed  Butch- 
ery, who  ere  long  will  fright  the  world  with  very  horror ! 

How  strangely  people  change !  A  little  while  ago,  and  that  woman's 
crest  was  held  aloft,  and  erect,  in  brazen  impudence  and  defiance,  as  she 
paced  up  and  down  the  streets,  a  human  spider,  intent  upon  drawing  silly  hu- 
man flies  into  her  horrible  web  —  a  web  which  they  can  never  quit  as 
pure,  and  good,  and  innocent  in  body  and  in  mind,  as  when  they  entered ; 
for  it  is  poison  —  every  thread  and  fibre  of  it,  except  the  baby  in  the 
bed  —  and  the  deadly  odor  of  the  Upas  fills  all  the  region  round  about. 

Why  turns  she  so  quickly  down  that  lane  ?  Well,  I  will  tell  you.  Be- 
cause the  itching  and  the  tingling  of  her  breasts  told  her  that  the  babe  of 
her  agony  and  her  shame  was  a-hungered  for  the  thin  blue  milk  of  her 
bosom.  And  so  she  quits  the  street,  for  maternal  love  is  much  stronger 
than  the  love  of  guilt  or  money.  Soon  the  glare  of  the  street-lamp  no 
longer  shines  upon  her  form,  for  it  is  lost  amid  the  labyrinths  and  devious 
windings  of  that  dark  and  noisome  alley-way,  this  horrid  tomb  of  all  the 
human  virtues.  But  her  aspect  has  changed ;  and  the  flaunting  courtesan 
hangs  her  head,  as  she  carefully  and  lightly  threads  her  way  along.  The 
harlot's  sun  has  set,  and  the  star  of  the  Woman  and  the  Mother  reigns  tri- 
umphant for  —  an  hour. 

Up,  up,  up,  the  dark  and  filthy  stairs  she  flies,  for  the  milk  pains  urge 
her  on ;  anon  the  attic  is  reached ;  a  little  brass  key  turns  in  the  lock ;  a 
ready  match  is  ignited;  the  little  lamp  illumes  the  seven-by-nine-  —  den, 
for  chamber  it  cannot  be  called ;  she  runs  to  the  bedside,  falls  lovingly 
upon  it,  snatches  up  the  prattler,  presses  it  to  her  bosom,  and  "  My  babe, 
my  precious  babe!"  she  cries,  as  the  great  round  tears  gush  up  from  her 
heart  —  her  woman's  heart,  after  all!  The  little  one  answers  with  a  glee- 
ful chuckle,  and  in  another  moment  is  busily  engaged  in  drawing  vitality 
from  the  body  of  Weakness  —  virtuous  life  from  the  paps  of  Guilt !  Love, 
pure,  dear,  sweet  and  precious  love  reigns  then  and  there  ;  just  such  love 
as  your  mother  felt  for  you,  my  reader,  my  sister  or  my  brother;  just 
such  love,  in  kind,  but  not  degree,  as  prompted  the  dear  God  to  send  his 
only  begotten,  because  most  perfectly  begotten  Son,  to  earth  for  purposes 
of  salvation  and  redemption ;  just  such  love  as  made  the  meek  and  lowly 
Nazarene  toilsomely  bear  his  cross  tip  the  stony  steeps  of  Calvary,  and 
afterward  groan  and  die  thereon !  Surely  that  woman  is  not  wholly  lost, 
who  feels  even  a  little  love  like  this. 

And  so  we  see  this  woman  in  all  her  sin  and  misery.  Is  it  All  Right? 
By  the  God  of  Heaven,  no ;  a  pealing,  thundering,  heaven-rending  NO ! 
It  can  never  be  right  for  a  true  woman  or  a  true  man  to  rest  contented 
while  such  things  be !  Society  —  you,  sir  or  madam,  and  I,  as  integers 
thereof,  must  work,  work,  to  bring  about  a  better  state  of  things.  It  can 
never  be  right  to  foster  or  in  any  way  encourage  the  growth  of  such  mon- 
strous evils,  as  I,  who  champion  all  women,  I  who  love  the  human  race  much 
better  than  a  party  or  a  philanthropic  clique,  herein  so  feebly  attempt  to 


woman;  love,  and  marriage.  349 

outline  and  depict.  The  modern  declaimers  for  the  doctrine  "Whatever 
is  is  Right,"  could  not  have  foreseen  the  fearful  consequences  likely  to 
arise  from  the  enunciation  of  the  infernal  sophism.  I  am  charitable 
enough  to  believe  they  did  not  so  foresee  them. 

Nevertheless  the  infectious  malaria  has  gone  out  upon  its  soul-destroy- 
ing mission ;  and  doubtless  there  are  scores  of  thousands  who,  failing  to 
perceive  the  utter  rottenness  of  the  fallacy,  felicitate  themselves  that, 
being  God's  creatures,  they  can  do  no  wrong,  because  he  is  at  the  head 
of  all  human  founts  and  springs  of  action,  therefore  everything  is  as  it 
ought  to  be.  It  is  quite  time  the  calumny  was  refuted,  and  the  people  set 
right  on  this  question,  and  if  this  endeavor  in  the  right  direction  shall 
have  the  effect  of  depriving  this  new  viper  of  its  fangs,  this  detestable  ser- 
pent of  its  sting,  this  asp  of  its  poison,  I  shall  not  fail  to  thank  God  with  an 
overflowing  heart. 


CHAPTER  XXTT, 

"What  good  can  be  expected  to  result  from  a  marriage  igno- 
rantly  offered,  and  haughtily  received ;  and,  in  the  end,  ac- 
cepted in  doubt,  and  consummated  in  blue  fire  on  one  side,  inef- 
fable horror  and  disgust  upon  the  other,  —  the  man  like  as  not 
blase,  the  woman  heartless?  —  and  yet  such  are  the  secret  records 
of  many  unions  now  existing.  There  is  a  chance  for  some  one 
to  make  a  large  fortune  by  the  exhibition  of  a  happy  married 
pair !  —  a  woman  who  is  really  contented  ;  a  man  who  regards 
his  wife  as  the  best  of  women,  and  who  sees  in  her  all  he  possi- 
bly wants  or  desires. 

Things  will  not  work  well  so  long  as  the  present  system  of 
mutual  deception  between  lovers  prevails.  Instead  of  clearly 
being  seen  and  known  for  what  each  really  is,  both  parties, 
after  marriage,  find  their  mates  entirely,  utterly,  and  in  all 
respects  different  from  what  was  confidently  anticipated :  the 
philosopher  turns  out  a  fool,  the  belle,  a  brainless  doll ;  and 
both  are  taken  in  and  completely  done  for.  Very  likely  the 
young  husband  has  been  a  hard  "  case,"  profligate  and  libertine ; 
and  it  not  seldom  happens  that  a  girl  proves  to  have  had  expe- 
riences which  had  better  been  postponed  ;  and  both  parties  are 
dead  sure  to  be  exposed  ;  and  then  come  criminations,  retorts, 
misery,  and  the  delicate  train  usually  following  domestic  explo- 
sions. 


350  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MAIiRlAGE. 

If  a  man  has  been  a  licensee,  his  bride  will  not  be  long  in 
making  that  discovery,  but  will  overlook  the  bad  fact  if  he  stops 
right  there  ;  and  if  he  don't,  she  is  just  as  certain  to  sense  the 
fact,  and  despise  him  for  it,  as  that  clucks  will  swim,  whether 
hatched  by  a  hen  or  not.  On  the  other  hand,  if  a  girl  has  had 
improper  experiences  before  she  goes  to  the  altar,  that  fact,  no 
matter  how  skilfully  concealed,  is  sure  to  be  discovered  by  the 
party  most  interested,  howsoever  ignorant  he  may  appear,  or 
really  be.  It  is  hard  to  hide  a  house  on  a  hill,  but  no  harder 
than  to  impose  upon  any  save  a  natural-born  idiot,  in  the  mat- 
ter of  personal  probity  of  the  nature  here  regarded,  for  the 
story  is  as  sure  to  be  told,  sooner  or  later,  as  that  the  sun 
appears  to  rise  and  set  day  after  day.  A  girl  should  go  to  her 
husband's  arms  as  innocent  as  when  she  left  her  mother's ; 
but  in  these  days  there's  a  few  who  don't !  and  there  are  reasons 
for  this,  aside  from  the  surface  one;  and  among  others  —  vio- 
lence aside  —  this  :  A  girl  naturally,  and  alwa3's  clings  —  even 
though  on  the  surface  she  believes  she  hates  —  intensely  —  to 
the  memory  of  him  who  first  learned  her  secret,  —  him  to  whose 
prayer  she  listened,  him  upon  whose  shoulder  she  hid  her  face, 
and  then  —  forgot  her  right,  her  dignity,  and  her  better,  nobler 
sense  of  justice,  honor,  self-respect.  That  man's  image  is 
burned  into  her  memory  with  fire,  on  ground  glass,  and  there 
will  it  stay,  even  to  the  marking  of  her  husband's  children  in 
body  and  in  mind  ;  for  they  will  be  sure  to  resemble  her  lover 
even  more  than  they  do  their  own  father  ;  nor  can  the  ingrained 
force  be  gotten  rid  of  this  side  of  the  grave ;  for  even  widow's 
children,  by  a  third  husband,  look  more  like  number  one  than 
number  three ;  just  as  the  red  cow,  whose  first  calf  was  by  a 
brindle  sire,  will  never  have  others  by  others  who  are  not  more 
brindle  than  any  other  color.  Now  Solomon,  or  some  one  else, 
said  that  every  secret  should  be  proclaimed  from  the  house-tops, 
and  this  is  one  of  them.  It  is  a  resemblance  not  relished  by 
husbands,  in  general,  these  likenesses  and  similitudes.  And 
no  woman  has  a  right  to  inflict  any  such  deep  humiliations  on 
any  man  that  breathes.     And  here  is  a  man's  right,  that  rather 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  351 

supersedes   the  principal  woman's  right  contended  for  in  these 
da}'s ! 

One  day,  in  Constantinople,  the  writer  sat  enjoying  a  nargileh 
with  a  Turkish  "friend,  a  man  of  high  rank,  profound  knowledge, 
and  courtesy  not  to  be  surpassed.  He  was  a  Ulema,  or  profes- 
sor of  Mahomedan  law,  and  we  had  been  conversing  on  the 
eternal  theme  of  love.  Said  he,  "  Cold  water  creates  power ; 
stops  all  leakage  ;  sharpens  man  ;  intensifies  woman  ;  dispenses 
with  drugs  and  surgery ;  prolongs  the  human  joys  ;  restores  the 
youth  !  This,  and  great  care  not  to  use  the  left  hand  too  often, 
is  the  secret  of  peace,  youth,  power,  energy,  long  life  ! "  Truer 
words  were  never  uttered.  [Of  course  the  methods  of  the  cold 
water's  application  —  one  yet  totally  undreamed  of  in  America 
—  cannot  be  here  inserted  ;  but  will  be  furnished  by  the  author 
hereof  to  physicians,  and  all  others  who  want  it  enough  to  send 
and  pay  for  the  trouble  involved  in  preparing  the  information.] 

All  possessors  of  great  brain-power,  as  is  proved  by  history, 
past  and  current,  are  simple  and  childlike,  and  rather  easily 
taken  in  and  imposed  upon,  by  people  of  contemptible  small- 
ness ;  while  pretenders  to  cerebral  power  are  exactly  the 
reverse,  and  let  slip  no  good  chance  of  putting  on  airs,  which 
the  really  great  man  never  does  —  and  notoriously  in  the  mat- 
ter of  dress.  Just  so  is  it  with  a  good  wife  or  husband.  They 
glide  along  smoothly,  with  scarce  a  jar  or  break,  save  an  occa- 
sional cloud,  resulting  from  ill  health,  more  than  anything  else  ; 
whereas  yonr  wife  or  husband  who,  to  others,  are  eternally  com- 
plaining of  how  dreadful  bad  their  mates  are,  and  what  magnifi- 
cent paragons  of  perfection  themselves  are,  will  be  found,  if 
the  truth  were  known,  to  be  —  to  use  an  expressive  Yankeeism 
■ —  exceedingly  small  potatoes,  with  very  few  in  a  hill. 

The  best  and  most  loving  woman  on  earth  sometimes  feels 
like  doing  and  saying  very  mean  things  —  apparently — and 
quarrelling,  and  hectoring  the  very  man  she  adores  and  would 
die  for.  She  can't  help  it ;  and  the  fool  who  takes  umbrage  at 
her  when  she  does  so,  isn't  fit  to  have  her  at  all.  She  does  these 
things  mostly  when  she  is  preparing  little  heads  to  wear  pretty 


352  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

tiny  caps, —  God  bless  her !  —  and  has  a  perfect  right  to  dwell 
in  whim-land  for  something  like  two  hundred  and  forty  days  — 
while  she  is  there,  look  you,  sir,  and  let  her  have  her  way ! 

Tinkers,  when  soldering  a  difficult  place,  usually  put  a  line  of 
putty  around  it  to  prevent  the  solder  from  escaping.  After  the 
job  is  done,  this  little  bank  —  which  is  called  a  "tinker's  dam" 
—  is  destroyed  because  it  is  useless.  Well,  such  fault-finders  as 
the  above  are  not  worth  one  of  the  dams  aforesaid,  so  far  as 
true  wifeliness  and  husbandage  are  concerned ! 

If  you  do  not  love  some  special  one,  it  is  impossible  that  you 
can  love  any  of  your  fellow-creatures  !  and  if  a  married  couple 
do  not  love  and  respect  each  other,  then  they  are  mutually  an- 
tagonistic at  heart,  the  upshot  of  which  will  be  that  one  drives 
the  mate  toward  the  divorce  courts,  the  other  to  abandonment 
or  illicit  love,  either  of  which  are  direct  roads  to  pandemoniums 
all  scoriae  paved,  with  no  glad  brooks  of  rippling  waters  to  as- 
suage its  dusty  heat. 

The  writer  of  this  once  knew  a  ci-devant  "  philosopher"  from 
wooden-nutmegdom,  who  was  an  avowed  free-lover, —  general 
lover, —  and  to  judge  by  his  own  story,  which  of  course  was 
all  brag,  a  very  successful  one.  At  the  same  time  he  prided 
himself  on  his  ability  to  demonstrate  the  non-existence  of  the 
Supreme  Being.  The  career  of  that  man  was  patiently  watched 
for  years,  in  the  confident  expectation  that  he  would  one  day 
exhibit  his  actual  moral  worth  as  a  man  and  member  of  society ; 
nor  was  that  expectation  disappointed.  A  test  was  arranged, 
and  a  good  opportunity  afforded  him  to  show  his  true  colors, 
and  it  resulted  that,  as  expected,  this  God-denying  and  God- 
forsaken What  is  it,  proved,  beyond  cavil,  totalty  destitute  of 
manhood  and  honor,  principle,  or  anything  really  human  except 
the  form  he  wore  and  disgraced  ;  for  he  triumphantly  established 
the  fact  that  it  was  unsafe  for  any  female,  no  matter  what  or 
whom,  to  be  left  in  his  society  alone,  even  for  an  hour,  beyond 
the  reach  of  rescuing  hands,  strong  arms,  and  an  excellent  pair 
of  boots,  with  approved  kick  qualities  lodged  in  them.  The  ex- 
perience connected  with  that  fellow  provoked  a  deal  of  anger 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  353 

and  of  thought,  and  finally  led  the  author  of  these  pages  to  sin- 
cerely doubt  the  possibility  of  any  one  being  a  true  wife  or  hus- 
band, who  recognizes  no  moral  accountability,  and  boastingly 
declares  there  is  no  Deity.  Certainly  the  author  of  this  work 
would  rather  God  should  call  his  daughter  home  before  half  her 
youth  was  passed,  than  consign  her  to  the  care  of  such  a  person, 
no  matter  what  his  external  standing  in  society  might  be,  or 
how  many  prefixes  or  suffixes  he  might  have  attached  to  the 
name  his  parents  gave  him. 

Logic,  religion,  the  vast  story  of  a  God  all  around  us,  are  all 
wasted  on  such  a  creature.  In  the  smile  of  a  child  he  sees  no 
heaven,  and  in  God's  master-piece  —  peerless  woman !  —  he  be- 
holds but  the  vehicle  of  his  own  unhallowed  pleasures,  and  the 
victims  of  his  low  and  fiery  passions.  "  Matter,  matter,  is  all 
there  is,"  he  cries  ;  and  believes,  or  braggingly  pretends  to,  that 
death,  the  hard  fate  of  a  dog,  awaits  him.  Sordidly  base  in  all 
things,  and  all  the  way  through,  he  is  but  a  two-legged  clog. 
Before  the  summons  comes,  and  when  it  does,  and  such  a  thing 
passes  beyond  our  mortal  ken,  but  few  mourn  for  him,  and  his 
passing  away  is  indeed —  "  No  matter !  "  He  was  a  hard  case, 
let  the  puppy  go ! 

"  If  that  which  is  hoi}',"  writes  an  unknown  correspondent, 
"  be  given  to  the  dogs,  they  will  turn  and  rend  you.  Swine 
tread  the  most  precious  jewels  under  their  feet."  And  what 
else  could  a  woman  expect  who  should  entrust  her  happiness 
either  to  a  free  lover,  a  babbler  of  woman's  confidential  secrets, 
an  open  braggart,  and  therefore  liar,  or  to  such  as  ignore  the 
Eternal  one,  and  regard  earth  as  but  the  mere  play-ground  of 
the  passions?  Not  much  else  indeed.  To  allow  such  a  man  to 
enter  your  house,  eat  your  food,  and  partake  of  jxmr  bounty,  is 
to  be  rewarded  by  his  most  strenuous  endeavors  to  debauch  your 
wives,  demoralize  your  sons,  and  make  shameless  harlots  of  your 
daughters  ;  for  such  a  man  has  no  more  honor  or  real  manhood 
in  him,  than  a  starving  tiger  has  compunctions  of  conscience 
about  making  a  meal  off  a  lamb  carelessly  straying  by  his  lair ! 

Like  the  correspondent  above  referred  to, —  almost  his  very 
words  are  quoted, —  the  writer  of  these  volumes  is  —  "a  mystic, 


354  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARMAGE. 

believing  we  are  all  propelled  by  a  wondrous  and  unimaginable 
destiny  —  which  is  the  Will  of  God  ! —  that  we  are  all  the  off- 
spring of  the  Eternal  Potency ;  that  the  human  soul  is  The 
Self,  and  has  powers,  functions,  attributes,  of  which  we  know 
little.  Holding  nothing  too  sacred  to  learn,  and  regarding  every 
affection,  passion  even,  to  be  sacred,  and  not  to  be  thought  of 
without  respect,  it  follows,  in  the  loftier  and  holier  sense,  that 
love  is  its  own  law,  and  wisdom  its  existere  and  manifestation  ; 
and  that  true  love  makes  us  Godlike  and  divine,  partakers  of 
the  divine  nature,  pure  from  sin,  holy,  true  men  and  priests  of 
the  most  high  God  !  " 

None  of  this  can  be  to  him  who  says,  "  There  is  no  God  !" 
He  is  really  shut  out  from  all  the  holier  and  sublime  sections  of 
nature  and  human  nature.  He  knows,  realizes,  actualizes,  noth- 
ing whatever  of  spirit,  because  he  worships  his  nerves ;  or  of 
soul,  because  he  has  a  soul-case,  and  but  a  tiny  jewel  inside  of 
it.  Incapable  of  love,  he  is  but  a  sensationalist,  and  worships 
appetite  as  drunkards  do  their  drink.  Friendship !  he  knows 
nothing  of  the  divine  meanings  of  the  sacred  principle. 

Says  a  scrap  of  paper  on  the  desk :  "  Of  all  the  blessings 
that  gladden  our  earthly  pilgrimage,  sympathy  is  the  sweetest ; 
of  all  the  gifts  of  God,  a  friend  is  the  chief.  The  man  of 
science  has  his  associates ;  the  man  of  crime  his  accomplice ; 
the  man  of  pleasure  his  companion ;  and  in  all  these  there  is 
sympathy,  but  not  friendship  ;  that  comprehends  an  enduring 
affection  resting  on  sj'mpathy ;  it  cannot  endure  if  built  on  the 
things  that  are  passing  away,  or  that  shall  be  burned  up."  Of 
this,  such  a  man  knows  nothing,  because  too  wrapped  up  in  his 
contracted  selfishness. 

H.  W.  Beecher  says :  "  He  who  knows  how  to  make  per- 
sons around  him,  wherever  he  goes,  happy ;  he  who  knows  how 
to  do  it  in  the  morning  and  noon  and  night ;  he  who  knows  how 
to  make  love  his  uniform  disposition ;  he  who  knows  how  to 
radiate  sympathy,  and  gentleness,  and  kindness,  and  forbear- 
ance, and  patience  towards  others,  and  to  make  men  feel  richer 
for  his  having  been  with  them,  —  he  has  the  crucial  test  of 
piety."     But  an  atheistical,  or  any  other  sprt  of  libertine,  has 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MAIIRTAGE.  355 

none  of  the  elements  of  manhood,  therefore,  of  happiness  in 
him  ;  he  cannot  give  others  what  he  has  not  himself.  His  brains 
are  iron,  his  soul  a  mass  of  ice ;  his  principles  doggish,  as  re- 
spects the  dog's  baser,  not  his  higher  nature  !  —  and  his  passions 
are  lurid  flames,  his  appetites  low,  gross,  sensual,  and  the  wom- 
an who  suffers  such  a  man  to  even  touch  her  hand  becomes 
defiled  beyond  the  cleansing  power  of  soap  and  water }  Shun 
him  !    He  is  a  stalking  pestilence ! 

It  is  extremely  bad  for  any  one,  male  or  female, —  but  far 
worse  for  a  woman  than  a  man,  because  she  has  fewer  dis- 
tractive  resources, —  to  fix  the  heart's  hopes  upon  one  who  is  in- 
capable of  any  fair  or  just  degree  of  appreciation,  —  one  who 
can  see  nothing  higher,  purer,  better,  nobler  —  more  human  — 
than  the  mere  utilities  of  wedded  life.  God  pity  him  or  her 
who,  having  a  mind,  and  acute  sensibilities  ;  who  loves  art, 
music,  and  all  that  is  good  and  fine,  but  who  is  yoked  to  a  dull 
log,  which  never  gives  forth  a  spark  of  fire,  save  the  dull  red, 
consuming  flames  of  animal  passion.  "  My  God,  it  is  dread- 
ful !  "  all  true  people  cry.  Oh,  this  false  trap  !  How  many  have 
been  led  into  it,  only  to  be  cruelized,  to  starve,  and  moan,  and 
daily,  hourly  die,  and  the  victims  are  not  all  females  either ! 

It  is  very  hard,  and  none  but  those  who  have  been  there  — 
legions  of  them  —  can  form  even  half  an  idea  of  the  awful  fall- 
ingness  of  a  soul  thus  circumstanced.  Death,  even  torturous 
death,  though  terrible,  may  be  met  by  a  call  on  courage  ;  but  to 
die  regularly,  day  after  day,  and  keep  it  up,  as  many  do,  is  a 
refinement  of  hardship  compared  to  which  dissolution  itself 
were  mere  child's  play. 

The  horror  of  horrors,  in  this  life,  is  to  be  compelled  to  en- 
dure that  anguish  —  for  all  other  agonies  and  accidents  sink 
into  comparative  insignificance,  when  contrasted  with  or  meas- 
ured by  a  bad  marriage  ! 

On  the  contrary,  the  supreme  bliss  of  blisses  is  to  be  a  direct 
partaker  of  the  joys  of  true  wife  and  husband  —  ay !  and 
mighty  few  there  be  who  linger  for  long  in  that  transcendently 
Happy  Valley  of  Delights  ! 

A  woman  must  be  admired  by  the  man  she  wifes.    It  is  her 


356  WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

due.  Let  her  be  so  or  else  she  pules,  mopes,  fades  —  in  her 
heart,  if  not  in  her  conduct  and  cheeks.  If  she  lives  at  all,  she 
cannot  endure  neglect.  It  is  an  icy-cold,  ever-freezing,  rack- 
ing death  ;  and  he  who  fails  to  render  her  just  tribute,  not  only 
injures  her,  and  chokes  her  love  to  death,  but  is  also  a  first-class 
idiot,  bent  upon  conjugal  suicide,  —  straight  as  a  string ! 

But  it  is  in  a  woman's  power  to  make  any  man,  and  especially 
her  husband,  admire  her.  Try  the  finesse  and  extras  of  dress, 
—  both  in  full  costume  and  when  alone  with  him,  O  wife  !  and 
if  you  play  that  card  well,  it  will  bring  him  to  terms  twelve 
times  in  every  dozen  trials ;  for  there  is  a  magic  in  dress  which, 
well  worked,  is  irresistible,  even  to  the  palled  and  jaded  natures 
of  the  most  obstinate  or  careless  man  alive. 

If  there's  one  thing,  short  of  crime,  worse  than  another,  it  is 
a  snoop, —  one  who  continually  pokes  his  or  her  —  mostly  her 
— nose  into  other  people's  affairs.  Such  persons  are  a  curse  to 
the  neighborhoods  where  they  live,  and  cause  more  trouble  be- 
tween men  and  their  wives  than  their  necks  are  worth. 

There's  one  or  two  snoops  — if  not  more,  in  New  England  — 
or  snoopdom  !  —  and  there's  as  many  as  one,  if  not  more,  reader, 
within  gunshot  of  where  you  are  reading  these  identical  lines  — 
Mrs.  —  and  the  old  maid — ,  and  —  Duck  them  if  you  get  a 
good  chance  I     That's  all. 

The  various  stages  of  a  lover's  career,  with  reference  to  the 
imperial  she,  is  :  ideal,  idyl,  idol,  at  which  point  he  marries  her, 
and  she  becomes  idle  —  and  he  wakes  up  some  fine  morning  and 
finds  himself  an  idiot ! 

People  who  love  are  slow  to  grow  old,  because  love  is  the 
real  elixir  of  life  and  water  of  perpetual  youth. 

But  husbands,  as  well  as  wives,  are  subject  to  the  same  law ; 
and  he  who  is  careful  of,  and  neat  in,  his  personal  appearance 
has  control  of  a  most  effective  key  to  woman's  heart,  and  al- 
though slovenliness  characterizes  genius  and  great  talent,  not 
every  man  can  afford  to  imitate  it.  But  no  man  exists  who  is 
not  more  of  a  man,  and  the  object  of  more  respect,  well  dressed, 
than  not  so. 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MAItRIAGE.  357 

The  inner  life  of  a  neglected  wife !  the  poor  thing !  The 
social  drudge  of  a  wandering,  tying,  club-tending,  doubly  mean 
thing !  God  pity  and  help  her,  for  her  sufferings  tongue  can 
never  tell.  She  who  in  her  jo3*ous  trust  gave  her  all  to  him, 
who,  having  worn  the  roses  from  her  cheek,  and  the  hope  from 
her  heart,  basely  leaves  her  alone,  half  the  year ;  never  takes 
her  out  in  the  green  fields  to  hear  the  birds  sing,  or  to  tread  the 
flowerj'  fields,  or  to  a  place  of  amusement ;  but,  instead  of 
that,  grumbles  and  growls  at  her  all  the  time,  and  —  then  trots 
off  for  pleasure  along  with  an}-  other  woman  he  can  find  who 
is  willing  to  let  him  disburse  his  money  for  her  —  is  too  mean 
to  eat  good  victuals !  And  there  are  more  just  such  husbands 
everywhere  than  3*011  could  shake  a  stick  at  in  a  month  of  Sun- 
days :  more's  the  shame. 

The  Christs  are  not  all  dead  !  They  still  live  !  "Where  shall 
you  look  for  them  ?  Look  everywhere  where  wives  exist !  Do  they 
not  suffer  crucifixions,  buffetings,  insults  innumerable  ?  and  do 
the}'  not  pray  Father  forgive  them  —  these  counterfeit  men ! 
these  sham  husbands! — for  they  know  not  what  they  do!' 
Were  not  these  wives  swindled  by  gilded  baits,  labelled  Hope 
—  into  hell  —  when  they  bargained  for  its  opposites  ?  No !  the 
Christs  are  not  all  dead  ! 

"Will  the  absurd  and  villanous  doctrines  now  so  rife  in  the 
land,  under  the  names  of  Reform,  Woman's  Rightism,  or  any 
other  disastrous  s}*stem  of  social  iconoclasm,  remedy  the  evils 
under  which  the  world  at  home  labors  to-day?  What  are  such 
new  lights  worth  when  their  leader  is  arrested  for  rape  on  a  child 
of  eleven  3-ears?  Oh,  this  accursed  reformatory  raff!  this  rot- 
ten drift-wood  on  the  social  and  the  mental  sea  !  Would  there 
were  a  Niagara  over  which  the}-  all  might  plunge  into  the  bot- 
tomless abysm  of  eternal  Night ! 

These  "reformers"  scatter  their  demoralizing  books  and 
papers  far  and  wide,  poisoning  the  minds  of  millions,  and  des- 
olating homes  by  annual  thousands.  Woman's  rights  won't 
make  home  happy,  depend  upon  it.  Nothing  but  right  down 
earnest  TRY  will  do  that!    Husband,  instead  of  mixing  more 


358  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

gall  in  j'our  wife's  cup,  ask  j-ourself  if  you  have  done  all  you 
could  to  make  things  run  smoother  and  better.  If  you  have 
not,  go  about  it  before  you're  an  hour  older.  Wean  her  from 
the  morbid  contemptation  of  her  misery,  fancied  or  real.  First 
try  to  make  her  believe  she  is  the  happiest  wife  alive  —  and 
make  her  so !  Don't  forget  that  silks  are  an  excellent  cure  for 
the  sulks ;  nor  that  when  a  man  is  stung  with  the  rattlesnake 
of  jealousy,  or  any  other  domestic  damnativeness,  it  often  takes 
five  men  and  himself  to  drink  whiskey  enough  to  —  not  cure 
him  —  but  to  allay  the  pangs  —  and  that  none  but  fools  do  any- 
thing of  the  sort.  Whiskey !  Would  that  every  gallon  of  it, 
and  every  other  intoxicant  on  the  globe,  were  freighted  by  ex- 
press, lightning  motored,  back  to  hell  from  whence  they  came ! 

It  is  impossible  to  be  wholly  good  without  loving ;  it  is  im- 
possible to  love  and  be  wholly  bad. 

John  Hat  —  God  bless  him  !  —  writing  in  "  Harper's  Weekly  " 
on  the  imperishable  topic,  woman's  love,  tells  certain  terrible 
truths  against  —  men  —  and  equally  true  ones  of  true  women : 
Read  —  and,  if  }rou  be  a  man,  go  thy  way  and  sin  no  more:  — 

"  A  sentinel  angel,  sitting  high  in  glory, 
Heard  this  shrill  wailing  out  from  purgatory! 
'  Have  mercy,  mighty  angel !  hear  my  story. 

"  '  I  loved,  and,  blind  with  passionate  love,  I  fell ; 
Love  brought  me  down  to  death,  and  death  to  hell} 
For  God  is  just,  and  death  for  sin  is  well. 

"  '  I  do  not  rage  against  His  high  decree, 
i  Not  for  myself  to  ask  that  grace  shall  be, 
But  for  my  love  on  earth,  who  mourns  for  me. 

"  '  Great  spirit,  let  me  see  my  love  again, 
And  comfort  him  one  hour,  and  I  would  fain 
To  pay  a  thousand  years  of  fire  and  pain.' 

"  Then  said  the  pitying  angel :  '  Nay,  repent 
That  wild  vow ;  look !  the  dial-finger  is  bent 
Down  to  the  last  hour  of  thy  punishment.' 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  359 

"  But  still  she  wailed  :  '  I  pray  thee,  let  me  go ; 
I  cannot  rise  to  peace  and  leave  him  so ! 
Oh,  let  me  sooth  him  in  his  hitter  woe ! ' 

"  The  brazen  gates  ground  suddenly  ajar, 
And  upward  joyous,  like  arising  star, 
She  rose,  and  vanished  in  the  ether  far. 

"  But  soon  adown  the  dying  sunset  sailing, 
And  like  a  wounded  bird  her  pinions  trailing, 
She  fluttered  back  with  broken-hearted  wailing. 

"  She  sobbed :  '  I  found  him  by  the  summer  sea 
Beclining  his  head  upon  a  maiden's  knee ; 
She  curled  his  hair  and  kissed  him.     "Woe  is  me  1  * 

"  She  wept :  '  Now  let  my  punishment  begin; 
I  have  been  fond  and  foolish.     Let  me  in 
To  expiate  my  sorrow  and  my  sin.' 

"  The  angel  answered:  '  Nay,  sad  soul,  go  higher! 
To  be  deceived  in  your  true  heart's  desire, 
Was  bitterer  than  a  thousand  years  of  fire ! ' " 

A  happy  woman  never  writes  a  book  !  nor  can  a  happy  man ! 
It  is  only  when  the  soul  feels  its  wings  scorched  that  it  realizes 
its  power  to  fly ;  and  the  more  dreadful  the  burning,  the  higher 
its  flight !  But  if  the  soul  be  crushed  beneath  an  overwhelming 
load,  only  then  can  its  true  soug  burst  forth  in  all  its  wild  weird 
power !  —  and  only  then  can  the  world  find  out  what's  in  a  wo- 
man or  a  man,  and  what  every  human  being  has,  but  is  niainly 
unconscious  of — heart,  soul,  feeling,  pit}',  tenderness  and 
brave  resolve  to  look  higher  and  do  better.  This  is  one  of  the 
missions  of  sorrow  to  the  world  ! 

"You  Christians  call  yourselves  civilized,"  said  a  savage  to  a 
sailor.  "Prove  it."  —  "I  can:  In  the  first  place  we  have 
churches."  —  "  Where  a  poor  man  dare  not  show  his  face,"  re- 
marked the  savage.  "  Don't  interrupt  me,"  said  the  sailor. 
"  We  have  jails,"  —  Where  }*ou  put  a  poor  man  who  is  unable 


360  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

to  pay  his  honest  debts !  "  observed  the  barbarian.  "  We 
have  large  manufactories."  —  "Where  you  make  compounds  to 
kill  your-fellow  men's  bodies,  and  rum  to  ruin  their  souls !  " 
said  the'  savage,  "  Rum,  to  make  him  mad,  crazy,  raving, 
furious,  demoniac,  —  a  murderer  !  " —  and  this  j'ou  call  the 
Golden  Rule  !  Then  you  build  gibbets  on  which  to  strangle 
them  to  death,  laying  all  the  blame  of  the  wrong,  if  wrong 
there  be,  upon  your  Christian  God,  not  where  it  rightfully 
belongs  —  yourselves.  Christian,  I  was  once  taken  to  your 
country,  and  carried  about  as  a  show  for  a  time ;  and  thousands 
paid  gold  for  a  sight  of  a  '  Savage.'  Presently  your  priests 
loaded  a  ship  for  me,  with  beads,  bibles,  and  blankets,  powder, 
gin,  and  guns,  to  trade  with  in  savage  land !  But  before  I 
returned  they  dressed  me  up  in  Christian  garb,  that  I  might  go 
about  seeing,  instead  of  being  seen ;  and  one  night  I  beheld 
new  evidences  of  3rour  high  culture,  one  of  which  were  gam- 
bling shops ;  another,  a  gilded  brothel,  where  young  girls  bar- 
tered their  beauty  for  jingling  silver  !  Next  day  I  saw  the  pot- 
ters' field  where  they  buried  them  when  dead.  Christian,  I  pre- 
fer to  remain,  a  savage  !  " 

All  young  creatures,  man  included,  run  to  passion  and  love, 
and  to  their  extremes  and  abuses.  So  do  villages,  cities,  towns, 
and  nations.  Our  own  nation  is  young,  and  is  therefore  fris- 
kier, and  more  unsettled  in  love  affairs  than  any  other  on  God's 
green  earth.  When  creatures  and  man  grow  older,  they  correct 
that  folly,  and  so  will  nations ;  hence,  in  a  century  or  two, 
America  will  have  a  little  common  sense,  and  more  decency ! 

"  Daughter,  I  hear  bad  news  of  you,  —  that  Sam  Wilson  was 
seen  to  look  under  your  bonnet,  and  kiss  you,  right  close  to 
Fera's  confectionery !  What  did  you  allow  such  goings-on  for  ? 
What  did  you  do?" 

4 '  Me  ?    Why  1  screamed !  ^ 

Big  Sister.  —  "  How  often  ?£' 

She.  —  "  Three  times  ! " 

B.  S.  — "  What  kinds  ?# 


WOMAN)   LOVE,    AND  MARRIAGE.  361 

Little  Brother.  —  "I  know :  vanilla  and  lemon  —  'cos  I 
seed  'em ! " 

Mother.  —  Good  gracious !  what  are  you  talking  about  ?  " 

Omnes.  —  "  Ice  cream  ! " 

During  his  strangely  varied  career,  the  author  has  had  thou- 
sands of  applications  from  persons  desirous  of  learning  his 
secret  of  medical  practice,  and  others,  relating  to  mind,  morals, 
and  the  affections  ;  but  most  of  them  were  based  upon  the  plea 
that  the  applicants  were  solely  desirous  of  "  aiding  suffering 
humanity,"  which  was  all  bosh.  They  wanted  to  help  them- 
selves to  success,  competence,  honor,  fame  and  glory,  but  had 
not  frankness  enough  to  say  so.  Now,  whenever  people  urged 
that  plea,  he  always  suspected  the  presence  of  a  selfish  "  mice," 
and  refused  to  allow  them  to  grind  their  axes  after  that  style ; 
but  whenever  a  person  said,  "  I  want  to  learn,  so  as  to  benefit 
myself  as  well  as  others,"  the  required  information  was  cheer- 
fully given  ;  for  the  author  always  did,  and  ever  will,  doubt  the 
motives  of  professional  world-savers,  who  blazon  "  Suffering 
Humanity"  as  a  motto  upon  the  banners  of  their  action. 

It  is  a  very  pleasant  sight  to  see,  and  a  far  pleasanter  sensa- 
tion to  feel  and  know,  that  your  wife  freely  gives  up  all,  to  fol- 
low and  share  the  fortunes  of  you,  her  husband.  But  when 
she  gives  up  all,  and  you  included,  to  follow  the  fortunes  of 
another  fellow,  it  is  not  quite  so  pleasant  a  sight  to  see  ;  while 
as  for  the  feeling,  that  is,  of  course,  quite  delicious  and  exhil- 
arating —  only  it  isn't. 

Reader,  allow  an  introduction  to  a  preacher  of  the  hard-shell 
persuasion,  —  a  supposititious  one,  perhaps,  but  as  genuine  as 
any  other  of  the  sort.     He  is  going  to  preach  a  sermon  :  — 

Bretheeing  and  Sisters  —  especially  the  sisters  —  attend  to 
what  is  goin'  to  be  said !  The  animiles  once  went  out  for  to 
fight.  The  shaggy  and  uproarious  bar  was  thar,  likewise  the 
lion  and  the  unicorn,  which  is  a  one-horned  animile,  and  quite 
as  dangerous  as  if  he  had  two,  or  more,  for  I've  knowed  many 
a  good  man  come  to  grief  through  a  single  horn,  —  case  horns 


362  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

is  bad  things  to  play  with,  seeing's  yer  don't  know  what  the 
effecks  may  be,  till  you've  tried.  The  elephant  was  thar,  as 
also  was  the  horn-bug,  tiger,  giraffe,  the  Irvpopo-taine-us,  and  all 
the  other  beasts  were  thar,  from  the  mastodon  clown  to  the  least- 
est  one  of  all.  They  was  on  a  big  prairie,  with  a  few  trees 
here  and  thar,  on  which  sat  the  eagles,  the  robins  and  the  owl- 
ingales,  which  they  had  been  appointed  judges  of  the  fight, 
what  was  going  for  to  come  off  right  onto  that  there  spot.  And 
the  beasts  they  formed  a  ring,  —  and  when  all  was  ready,  the 
eagle  he  gin  a  scream,  and  the  lion  and  the  tiger  they  pitched 
in,  and  fout,  and  fout,  till  thar  wasn't  a  grease-spot  left  of 
eyther,  after  which  the  rhino-serious  and  the  snappin-turkle 
they  had  a  tussle,  and  the  latter  he  come  off  first-best,  case  he 
got  sich  a  holt  on  to  that  thar  upper  lip  of  that  thar  rhinose- 
rious,  as  to  cause  him  to  gently  murmur  ;  Now  I  lay  me  down  to 
sleep,  and  then  git  up  and  git  like  unto  a  quarter  horse  close 
to  hum  !  And  then  the  alligator  allegated  to  the  effeck  that  he 
could  just  clean  out  anything  around  thar,  which  alligations 
the  anaconda  he  denied,  and  said  he'd  see  his  pile  on  it,  and  go 
him  suthin  better, —  and  he  did  ;  case  he  hugged  that  varmint 
till  his  eyes  they  stuck  out  like  four  peeled  ingions,  and  the 
snake  he  raked  the  board ;  and  then  the  wild  bull  and  the  cata- 
mount they  went  in,  and  come  out  agin,  both  of  'em  badly 
licked,  and  worse  skeered.  Presently  the  unicorn  and  the  gnu 
they  sounded  thar  horns  —  and  took  one  —  and  they  guv  out  a 
defy,  to  the  effeck  that  any  one  thar  what  had  any  conceit  in  'em 
and  wanted  to  substantiate  it  or  get  it  took  out'n  'em, —  any  one 
what  wanted  for  to  fight,  mout  enter  into  the  covenant  immedi- 
ently ;  for  there  was  a  little  inseck  present  what  wanted  some 
one  to  knock  a  chip  offn  his  shoulder, —  not  if  they  would,  but. 
if  they  dared  ;  his  arms  was  a  lance,  and  he  wore  a  yaller 
jacket,  and  though  he  was  small,  yet  he  considered  his  self 
some  —  in  a  free  and  easy  fight ;  his  ordinary  heft  wasn't  more'n 
three  kernels  o'  corn,  yet  when  he  got  right  smart  mad,  he 
weighed  consid'rable  more'n  two  tons,  and  he  had  come  -out  for 
to  fight ! 

He  was  a  vain  and  a  sassy  cuss,  and  his  name  which  it  was 


WOMAK,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  363 

hor-nett;  and  he  avouched  that,  as  for  him,  he  didn't  care  a  mill- 
dam,  or  any  other  sort,  for  any  fish  what  trod  the  land,  or 
beast  what  swum  the  sea ;  and  he'd  bet  high  that  thar  was 
nothing  on  the  ground  as  could  take  his  measure,  or  knock  him 
out'n  time !  Wharfor  and  tharfor,  hear  ye !  hear  ye !  and  O 
yes !  and  all  you  who  wants  to  bet,  or  try  your  luck  with  that 
thar  little  jokin'  cuss,  you  just  put  up  your  stamps,  and  sail, 
in  ;  and  when  you  do,  may  suthin  have  mercy  on  you,  for  that 
there  little  individual  wont  I  — you  may  bet  high  on  that !  " 

With  this,  the  heralds  they  dried  up,  and  out  came  the  sassy 
little  winged  bug ;  and  he  flopped  his  wings,  he  did ;  and  he 
made  faces  at  the  crowd,  after  which  he  proceeded  to  run  out 
his  stinger,  and  then  he  remarked,  "How  is  that  for  high?" 
which  caused  the  elephant  to  snicker  right  out,  and  shake  his 
sides  with  laughin' ;  while  the  hipopotamus  he  smole  clean  across 
his  rather  open  countenance,  at  the  perfectly  ridiculous  idea  of 
any  one  being  afraid  to  fight  a  inseck  so  small  as  that.  But 
alas !  they  hadn't  not  no  idee  of  what  a  awful  sight  of  ruin  is 
contained  in  a  hor-nett's  tail ;  for  it  biteth  like  a  serpent,  and  it 
stingeth  worsern  two  adders,  you  bet !  case  your  preacher's 
bin  thar,  and  he  don't  intend  to  go  any  more  —  bless  the  Lord! 
and  amen  !  and  so  mote  it  be  !  A  bee's  stinger  is  some,  a  wasp's 
is  somer,  but  a  hor-nett's  is  som-est,  and  considerabul  worser'n 
airything  3'ou  ever  got  a  hold  of,  and  the  more  you  just  git  up 
and  git  from  an}>-  locality  where  they're  around,  the  better'll  it 
be  for  your  piece  of  mind! — that's  all,  and  that's  enough; 
when  }^ou  make  a  right  calkelation  ;  and  come  to  see  the  pint ; 
which  you  don't,  and  can't  till  you  learn  what  befell  those  ani- 
miles  what  went  out  for  to  fight ! 

But  the  elephant  he  got  laughed  at,  and  he  got  mad,  and  he 
thought  he  could  go  for  that  thar  hornet,  and  come  out  all 
O  K ;  but  a  more  mistaken  individual  you  never  clapped  eyes 
on.  Brethering,  no  one  ever  yet  went  for  that  sort  of  animile 
what  didn't  come  out  second  best !  But  the  stamps  was  up ; 
the  horns  they  sounded  ;  and  the  combatants  they  made  a  dash 
for  each  other,  and  both  missed.  Then  the  elephant  he  got  mad, 
and  he  lifted  up  his  trunk  and  he  sailed  in  !  —  and  he  sailed  out 


364  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE. 

agin  in  a  awful  hurry ;  for  while  his  snoot  was  in  the  air,  the 
bug  he  just  dropped  into  it ;  and  he  crawled,  and  he  crawled 
right  square  up  that  elephant's  trunk  clean  up  to  the  top  of  it, 
close  by  a  tender  spot  right  in  Mister  Elephant's  head  ;  and 
when  thar  he  nipped  hold  of  one  soft  place  with  his  hands  and 
mouth,  so's  he  could  have  a  clear  swing  with  his  tail,  —  which 
he  did !  and  he  got,  and  he  bent,  and  he  surged,  and  he  gave 
that  elephant  hail  Columby  right  straight  along  so's  to  make  that 
refined  and  cultured  animile  use  the  worstest  and  most  profanest 
kind  of  language  that  ever  fell  from  the  lips  of  any  educated 
elephant  before  or  since  ;  and  he  actually  swore  after  his  style, 
and  he  wiggled,  and  he  flopped,  and  he  kicked  with  all  four 
feet ;  but  it  was  all  of  no  use,  for  the  hornett  had  him  tight,  just 
as  before,  and  since ;  which  occasioned  him  to  observe  that, 
in  fact,  he'd  be  d — d,  somethinged,  if  he  could  stand  that  sort  of 
thing  much  longer,  he'd  bet  high  on  that !  As  for  the  rest 
of  the  beasts  what  went  out  for  to  fight,  they  liked  the  sport 
hugely,  and  nearly  split  theirselves  with  laughing, —  it's  so  easy 
and  agreeable  to  laugh  at  others,  you  know  !  —  but  they  really 
couldn't  help  it,  for  his  motions  were  quite  absurd ;  and  they 
hollered,  and  they  3relled,  "  Go  it,  flop-ears !  go  it  hor- 
nett !  "  which  the  former  couldn't  appreciate,  because  he  was 
so  busy  dancing  ;  besides  which  he  was  taken  suddenly  ill  with 
a  dangerous  bowel  complaint,  and  he  hadn't  not  no  time  to  con- 
sult a  doctor  or  take  any  medicine  whatsomever,  even  if  it  had 
been  offered  to  him  then  and  thar  ! 

And  he  got  sick,  and  he  was  under  the  weather,  he  was ;  be- 
cause he  went  into  that  there  fight  with  both  of  his  eyes  tight 
shet ;  but  he  came  out  of  it  with  those  identical  eyes  wide  open, 
—  he  did !  and  he  found  out  that  a  horneW  was  a  double  patent 
compound  mitrailleuse, —  silver-mounted,  not  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  —  and  a  breech-loader  at  that  —  of  the  very  worstest 
kind  !  Bless  the  Lord  !  —  and  he  went  in  to  win,  and  he  came 
out  just  like  a  spaniel  dog  what's  been  stealing  and  got 
kicked,  and  sneaks  off  to  hide  his  shame  !  You  know  how  it  is 
yourself  ! 

At  last  he  roared  "  Enough  !  "  whereupon  the  yaller-colored 


WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  365 

champion  came  out,  and  he  got  on  a  leaf,  and  he  observed  that 
it  was  quite  early  in  the  dajr,  and  as  he  hadn't  got  fairly  warmed 
up  j-et,  he'd  like  to  try  some  of  the  rest,  who  felt  like  treading 
on  the  tail  of  his  coat.  But  no  one  saw  fit  to  take  his  defy.  As 
for  his  late  antagonist  in  the  recent  unpleasantness,  he  packed 
up  his  trunk  and  left  by  express.  But  the  hornett  he  felt  so 
good  that  he  flew  among  the  laughing  crowd  and  touched  'em 
up,  under  their  eyes  and  other  tender  places,  until  the  entire 
crowd  what  went  out  for  to  fight  concluded  that  the  weather 
was  too  sultry  thareabouts,  and  they  left.  As  soon  as  the  last 
one  was  gone,  the  hornett  was  jubilant ;  and  he  buzzed,  and  he 
rolled  on  the  grass,  and  he  fout  his  battles  over  again  in  imagi- 
nation, till  at  last  he  stuck  his  stinger  right  into  his  own  eye, 
and  he  keeled  up  and  died  right  then  and  thar  ! 

Sisters,  thar's  a  moral  to  this  fable.  Hornett-izing  don't  pay 
in  the  long  run  ;  case  the  wielder  of  the  weapon  is  sure  to  sting 
herself  to  death ! 

Brethering,  beware  of  all  insects  —  especially  the  Zior-NETTS  ! 
—  but  you  needn't  always  spell  it  in  that  thar  way  !  " 

It  is  a  very  singular  fact  of  the  human  heart,  best  illustrated 
by  a  case  in  point,  that  if  she,  or  he,  becomes  jealous  of  him 
or  her,  and  subsequently  finds  out  that  there  was  no  ground 
whatever  for  it,  yet  nevertheless  the  love  he  or  she  previously 
bore  her  or  him  becomes  weakened,  and  never  again  can  be 
what  it  was  before,  no  matter  how  fulty  the  judgment  may 
acquit  the  suspected.  Every  adverse  emotion  of  the  human 
being  weakens  those  which  are  normal ;  so  let  lovers  beware, 
and  the  married  as  well. 

Few  widows  now  die  of  grief  for  their  loss.  They  some- 
times faint,  but  generally  come  two  —  if  not  three  !  While  as 
for  widowers,  no  matter  how  severe  the  stroke  may  be,  it  is 
seldom  fatal,  and  most  of  them,  in  a  short  time,  manage  to  re- 
wive.  Plenty ,  nearby  all  women,  like  to  be  and  want  to  be  loved 
right  straight  from  a  man's  soul,  yet  comparatively  few  of  them 
are  capable  of  inspiring  just  what  they  do  want,  or  of  retaining 


366  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

it  when  they  have  won  it,  if  they  win  it.     Especially  is  this 
true  in  the  American  East. 

The  benign  and  softening  influence  of  a  good  woman,  with 
courage  to  deftly  try,  and  pluckily  persevere,  will  transform 
even  a  tiger  man,  in  time,  to  the  perfect  similitude  of,  and 
afterward  into  the  real  state  of  a  gentleman,  in  every  sense  of 
the  word.     It  only  needs  persistence. 

Men  are  apt  to  yield  to  a  single  temptation,  under  the  idea 
that  "  once  don't  count  much  "  !  So  are  some  women.  But  just 
as  sure  as  that  death  shall  claim  us  in  the  end,  will  every 
single  experiment  in  license  be  certain  to  prove  a  dead  failure  ; 
because  it  loosens  one's  hold  on  the  good  and  true ;  and  rup- 
tures the  strands  of  the  mystic  cord  which  binds  the  soul  to 
honor  and  to  virtue.  Loveless  passion  leads  to  the  deeps  :  love- 
passion  leads  to  heaven.  But  if  deteriorated  it  effeminates  the 
man  ;  leads  to  social  brigandage ;  debases  woman  ;  snatches 
the  crown  bf  corruscant  glories  from  her  brow  ;  bans  both  man 
and  wife  from  thereafter  sailing  over  the  silvery  seas  of  dear, 
because  virtuous,  delight,  and  substitutes  a  murky  tide  in  its 
place.  Instead  of  basking  in  the  ineffable  smiles  of  the  virtue- 
crowning  God,  they  grovel  amid  the  baleful  odors  steaming 
from  the  pit. 

"When  a  man  forgets  to  honor  the  sex  of  his  mother,  —  as  some 
do  at  sight  of  the  most  sacred  spectacle  on  earth,  a  pregnant 
woman  !  —  that  very  instant  the  manly  glory  that  ought  to  radiate 
from  the  head  and  face  of  one  who  feels  allied  to  greatness  and 
to  God,  passes  from  his  presence  and  beyond  his  utmost  reach 
in  this  life,  and  until  he  and  we  shall 

" meet  and  greet  in  closing  ranks, 


In  Time's  declining  sun, 
When  the  bugles  of  God  shall  sound  recall, 
Arid  the  battles  of  life  are  won." 

No  man  can  honor  his  mother,  who  belittles  or  victimizes 
her  sex.  The  two  things  are  incompatible,  and  wholly  impos- 
sible in  the  same  individual.  No  good  can  come  out  of  any 
garden  where  such  things  grow ;  where  flourishes  disrespect,  or 


WOMAN,   LOVE)  AND   MARRIAGE.  3C7 

light-thinking  about  woman,  but  only  ill  weeds,  and  noisome 
vermin  in  human  shape  —  people  who  deal  in  high-sounding,  un- 
meaning rhapsody,  and  pseudo-philosophical  rhodomontade, 
wherewith  to  stultify  the  public  conscience,  gull  the  people  of 
their  monej',  and  gratify  the  morbid  tastes  of  those  long  lost  to 
decency,  respect,  and  virtuous  society. 

It  has  been  said,  widely  believed  and  scarce  ever  denied,  that 
many  a  woman  has  taken  a  step  called  infamous,  purposely, 
yet  inspired  by  the  highest,  holiest  and  purest  virtue, —  the  de- 
sire of  maternity.  It  may  be  so,  but  the  writer  takes  leave 
to  doubt  it.  At  all  events  it  is  an  unsafe  principle  to  adopt ; 
and  she  who  does  it  may  be  a  virtuous  woman,  but  it  is  not  a 
proposition  very  easily  accepted  by  him  —  or  an}-  other  man. 

Incessant  petting  and  incessant  passion  are  alike  distasteful 
to  sensible  people  of  either  gender.  It  is  possible  to  give  either 
an  overdose  of  "  duckej's,"  "sweets,"  "darlings,"  and  such- 
like toy  names.  Enough  is  as  good  as  a  feast.  Too  much  of 
a  good  thing  clogs  the  taste  and  spoils  the  appetite.  "We  want 
talk,  mind,  brains  —  something  else  beside  an  eternal  round  of 
sugared  phrases,  honeyed  words,  and  endearing  expressions.  Let 
them  be  the  condiments  and  seasoning,  not  the  staple  food  of 
life  ;  for  they  beget  an  affectional  dyspepsia  exceedingly  hard 
to  cure. 

Beware  of  a  woman,  O  man,  whose  care  and  love  for  you 
depends  upon  your  ability  to  gratify  her  whims,  tastes,  appe- 
tites and  passions.  Do  not  trust  her  too  far,  or  confide  in  her 
too  much. 

It  is  perfectly  safe  to  say  that  no  man  can  trust  a  woman 
who  deceives  her  husband  for  your  sake, —  if  you  be  a  man  ; 
for  she  who  will  do  that,  will  not  scruple  or  hesitate  to  deceive 
you  in  turn,  for  whatever  other  man  may  chance  to  take  her 
fancy  ;  and  she  will  just  as  readily  sell  you  as  she  did  the  man 
she  calls  husband,  and  who  fancies  her  to  be  true. 

Falsus  in  uno,  falsus  in  omnibus,  is  the  rule  in  love-law. 

Said  the  old  grajdiead  :  "  Water  is  a  good  thing — to  wash 
in,  and  for  —  navigation  purposes;  but  for  a  steady  drink 
give  me  rum."     And  so,  too,  a  husband  delights  in  the  loving 


3G8  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

inanities  of  a  fond  wife ;  but  not  as  a  steady  diet ;  they 
bring  on  affectional  dyspepsia ! 

If  he  loves  her : 

If  she  loves  him  : 

He: 

She: 

Is  immeasurably  more  than  ten  thousand  worlds  like  this, 
with  all  its  wealth  and  honors,  to  each  other ! 

If  they  come  together  wrong ! 

She: 

He: 

First  makes  Heaven, 

Then  Hell, 

For  each  other. 

This  is  the  old,  old  story ! 

The  worst  of  love-matters  in  these  days  is  that  people  who 
ought  to  court  to  understand  each  other,  do  so  to  fool  each  other 
instead,  and  succeed  to  a  dot !  Marriage  is  not  proposed  coolly, 
but  is  offered  and  accepted  when  both  are  in  a  magnetic  fever 
of  excitement.  The  man  trembling  from  wrong  causes,  says 
"Will  you?"  and  she,  pale  with  the  pallor  of  passion,  assents. 
What  wonder  then,  that  in  less  than  six  months  both  can  sit 
under  the  same  roof  and  write  letters  from  hell  to  their  several 
friends?  Not  much  !  Life  is  at  best  a  series  of  expectations. 
We  never  quite  reach  the  goal  we  seek, —  the  kiss  might  be  just 
a  little  warmer,  the  candy  just  a  bit  sweeter ;  and  instead  of  en- 
joying what's  before  us,  we  envy  Mr.  Some  One's  meal,  while 
that  person  daily  damns  his  lot  and  imagines  we  are  the  favored 
ones,  not  him.  All  our  quantities  vanish  ;  all  our  equations  are 
broken  —  a  way  God  has  of  making  us  lose  sight  of  Now,  and 
walk  and  toil  toward  Then  ! 

Not  until  we  all  realize  absolute  personal  responsibility  for  our 
voluntary  acts  prepense, —  that  somewhere,  before  some  tribunal, 
above  and  beyond  those  of  man,  the  court  of  last  resort,  —  and 
are  guided  by  that  realization,  will  we  keep  our  hands  off  others' 
goods  and  do  as  we'd  be  done  by.  The  world  boasts  much  of 
its  progress  and  liberalism.     The  former  it  may  well  be  proud 


WOMAN)    LOVE)   AND   MARRIAGE.  369 

of,  but  unmistakably  the  latter  has  corrupted  the  entirety  of 
human  morals  ;  and  they  who  know  the  most  have  least  con- 
science in  very  many  cases  ;  not  because  of  knowledge,  but  that 
they  know  too  much  for  humility,  too  little  for  the  higher  life  ; 
too  far  from  human  law  and  not  near  enough  to  God's  !  Not 
till  every  one  of  us  strives  to  get  on,  have  honor,  and  be  honest, 
will  the  ultraistic  abominations  of  the  age  be  relegated  to  the 
past,  and  the  horrid  phantom  of  false  philosophy,  touched  with 
the  spear  of  Ithuriel,  double  itself  up  and  vanish  forever  and 
evermore  from  the  fair  face  of  earth  ;  not  till  then  will  the 
enormous  load  of  disconsolateness,  now  weighing  so  heavily  on 
us  all,  be  uplifted  from  our  shoulders  and  then  cast  down  to 
never  oppress  us  again ;  and  all  of  us  know,  as  we  should  and 
yet  shall,  that  he  or  she  who  dishonors,  makes  light  of,  or  aims 
a  blow  at  marriage,  or  rudely  innovates  upon,  or  invades  its 
sanctities,  is  a  public  enemy ;  should  be  treated  as  such,  else 
entirely  ostracized  and  cut  off  from  all  good  society,  debarred 
all  fair  and  clean  distinction  in  the  world  of  men  and  women, 
because  he  or  she  is  their  foe,  who,  instead  of  assisting  poor, 
weak  and  lame  humanity  to  walk  erect  and  be  strong, —  that  is, 
Virtuous,  in  its  long  and  wearisome  march  from  Bad  to  Better, 
—  are  continually  and  desperately  engaged  in  trying  to  thwart 
the  purposes  of  the  Supreme  Parent,  by  throwing  impedimenta 
and  obstructions  among  the  cog-wheels  of  the  grand  social 
machinery,  which  is  a  crime  and  conspirac}'  against  all 
human  kind  the  wide  world  over  ;  and  he  or  she  who  does  it  — 
and  their  name  is  Radical,  and  their  number  Legion — raises 
the  black  flag  and  declares  him  or  herself  a  universal  pirate  and 
social  brigand,  and  therefore  deserves  a  pirate's  and  a  brigand's 
punishment  and  fate  ! 

Besides  being  the  enemy  of  the  race,  a  radical  is  his  or  her 
own  worst  foe,  because  he  or  she  vainly  seeks  for  their  promised 
joys  and  blisses,  and  only  succeed  in  gaining  a  firm  foothold 
in  the  dark  and  humiliating  valley  of  Unrest.  Their  theory 
and  system  is  founded  on  a  chimera,  a  mere  unsubstantial  shadow. 
How  can  it  be  otherwise,  when,  ignoring  divinity  they  banish 
Providence  and  have  no  God  to  lean  on  ?     It  drives  us  all  out 


370  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

upon  the  bleak  waste  of  nothingism, —  emptiness  ;  vacuity,— 
wrecks  us  on  the  sharp  rocks  of  domestic  desolation  ;  strangles 
home  love  ;  whets  its  appetite  in  quivering  flesh  ;  fosters,  en- 
courages and  justifies  elopements,  desertions  and  abortion ; 
sets  a  premium  on  infant  murder,  and  promotes  adultery  on 
every  hand ;  it  forces  an  outer  life  upon  us,  and  shuts  the 
door  of  the  inner,  higher  and  better ;  it  arrays  kith  and  kin, 
parent  and  child,  wife  and  husband,  in  deadly  and  hopeless  an- 
tagonism with  each  other,  and  declares  open  war  against  the 
human  race  —  themselves  included.  It  dooms  us  to  isolation, 
loneliness,  desolation,  forces  us  to  eat  our  own  hearts,  and 
dwell  among  unsubstantial  mockeries  and  phantoms  of  happi- 
ness, while  the  reality  is  afar  off;  for  there  can  be  no  real  com- 
panionship in  radicalism  or  lust,  its  legitimate  and  inevitable 
product,  —  because  its  nature  is  wholly  onesided  and  selfish. 
Its  champions  and  its  adherents  disagree,  and  perpetual  war, 
slander,  vituperation  and  hatred,  mark  their  intercourse  with 
one  another,  and  they  can  no  more  stand  together  than  can  the 
imps  of  Eblis. 

It  sinks  us  down  to  bestial  hells,  and  bars  the  gates  of  heaven 
in  our  faces  ;  and  no  sooner  do  we  enter  the  sphere  of  outre- 
isms,  take  whatever  name  or  form  they  may,  than  the  lofty 
angels  take  their  flight ;  and  the  virtues,  no  longer  piping  dul- 
cet melodies  to  and  in  the  sanctums  of  our  souls,  frightened 
and  shocked,  quit  us,  and  the  coarse,  dark  tribes  swarm  in,  and 
rack  us  with  the  harsh  gratings  of  filing  saws,  and  the  omi- 
nous hootings  of  the  owls  of  social  night.  Our  eyes,  no  longer 
open  to  the  better  and  softer  light  of  heaven,  are  blinded  by  the 
infernal  glare  of  ignus  fatui,  which  lure  us  into  the  pitfalls 
and  murky  swamps,  and  sink  us  neck-deep  in  the  quick  black 
mire  of  wretchedness  and  heart-woe,  and  so  inextricably  that 
unless  we  cry  up  to  Him  in  our  fearful  agony,  who  alone  can 
stretch  forth  his  hand  to  save  us,  we  are  lost,  lost,  lost ! 

He  or  she  who  shamefacedly  or  brazenly  ignores  marriage 
and  its  sacred  obligations  and  responsibilities,  can  never  be- 
hold or  realize  the  ineffable  beatitudes  of  that  mystical  domes- 


WOMANy   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  871 

tic  heaven,  whose  existence  depends  upon  the  interfusion  and 
blending  of  two  fond  and  loving  hearts, —  two  united  souls. 
But  there  comes  a  retributive  time  to  them,  after  the  showers 
of  passion  have  ceased  to  fall,  and  when  the  sun  of  truth  shines 
out  upon  them.  Then  they  would  give  all  the  world  had  their 
lives  not  been  so  false. 

To  the  married  and  the  careless,  what  bitter  regrets  await 
them  too  !  They,  who  have  not  thoroughly  tried  to  better  their 
domestic  state ;  discontented  husbands,  and  wretched  wives, 
from  whose  lips  daily  goes  up  to  heaven  the  sad,  sad  wail  of 
lacerated  hearts  —  "  My  God,  My  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken 
me  ?  "  while  salt  and  bitters  tears  fall  like  wintry  rain  from  his, 
but  mostly  from  her  eyes,  who  has  asked  for  bread  and  been 
given  a  stone  !  —  who  has  bestowed  a  heart  and  reaped  horror, 
grief  and  wan  despair  —  oh,  how  inexpressible,  intense,  acute 
and  dreadful !  What  measure  can  hold  the  bitterness  raging  in 
an  unloved  husband's  heart !  What  line  can  sound  the  awful  gulfs 
of  woe  in  the  sad  and  mourning  soul  of  an  unloved  wife  —  a 
gulf  of  misery  ten  thousand  fathoms  deep  !  Well  may  such  — 
either  of  them,  clasp  their  hands  over  throbbing  temples  and 
breaking  hearts,  as,  looking  up  to  God,  they  cry :  "  Father, 
Father,  let  this  bitter  cup  pass  from  me  !  " 

Note.  —  During  many  years,  the  author  devoted  all  his  energies,  in  a 
medical  point  of  view,  to  the  treatment  of  those  ailments  of  both  sexes,  old 
and  young,  which  spring  from  perverted,  morbid,  repressed  affection  and 
passion,  with  a  success  all  the  more  marked,  for  that  he  treated  them  from 
a  magnetic  and  dynamic  point  of  view.  He  has  now,  measurably,  retired 
from  practice,  and  designed  to  say  nothing  herein  on  the  medical  side  of 
the  question,  until  numerous  correspondents,  and  former  patients,  learn- 
ing  that  a  new  work  was  issuing  from  his  pen,  insisted  that  it  was  a  duty 
to  still  counsel,  advise,  and  assist  such  sufferers  from  inverted  and  per- 
verted love.  He  therefore  consents  to  advise  in  those  special  cases  affecting 
the  brain,  stomach,  and  vital  apparatus  of  either  sex,  whether  from  ner- 
vous prostration,  vampire  depletion,  excess,  or  the  reactions  of  thwarted 
or  perverted  love  upon  the  bodily  health,  incipient  insanity,  morbid  action 
of  the  mind,  gloom,,  suicidal  despondency ,  mania,  and  the  distressing  cat- 
alogue of  ills  peculiar  to  women,  married  and  single,  as  well  as  the  corre- 
spondent ills  of  males.     He  wishes  it,  however,  to  be  distinctly  understood 


3  72  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MAliltlAGE. 

that  he  has  abandoned  general  practice,  and  will  only  act  in  cases  where 
hope  is  gone,  and  only  death  or  madness  Zoom  up  in  the  near  future.  His 
address  will  be  Boston,  Mass.,  care  of  Randolph  Publishing  Co.  All 
such  correspondence  must  be  marked  "  Private  J" 

Love,  iu  reality,  is  the  miraculous  finding  and  recognition  of 
the  higher  and  better  part  of  yourself  in  another,  and  both 
parts  mutually  making  the  discovery,  and  fusing,  blending, 
mingling  into  an  inseparable  oneness ;  then  follows  the  thrill ! 
—  and  this  is  love  !  It  is  a  burst  of  sunlight  through  a  storm- 
charged  cloud.  The  loved  one  is  all  the  world  to  thee,  and  all 
the  rest,  all  the  universal  existence  outside,  has  but  a  represent- 
ative value.  Let  it  be  disturbed,  and  you  are  haunted  by  an 
intangible  horror,  forever  breathing  its  chilliness  upon  you,  for- 
ever assuming  shapes  which  are  but  varied  formlessness,  and 
elude  your  every  attempt  to  grasp  hold,  or  even  define  them. 
Let  even  the  fear  of  its  loss  assail  you,  and  straightway  your 
very  soul  is  tossed  upon  the  stormy  waters,  and  you,  like  the 
frail  bark,  are  dashed  hither  and  yon  in  the  resistless  vortex  of 
the  whirlpool ;  your  steadiness,  because  your  anchor  of  hope,  is 
gone.  The  love-light  fades  from  j'our  eye,  and  quiet  from  your 
heart,  and  both  give  place  to  the  restless,  wild  tumult  of  the 
mad  Bacchante.  "We  are  told  that  when  things  reach  their 
worst  they  begin  to  mend  ;  but  it  is  seldom  so  with  those  whose 
love  is  blighted.  God  grant  it  may  be  so,  —  may  mend  when  the 
dark  pall  hangs  heavily  on  those  whom  sweet  love  so  cruelly 
stabs  at  times !  Heaven  help  us  !  How  the  heart-reft  do  suf- 
fer !  nor  can  earth,  or  philosophj'  appease  the  anguish  —  only 
God  can  then  assuage  the  dreadful. w.oe ! 


WOMAN;   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  S7S 

CHAPTER  XXIH. 

CONCLUSION. 

Almost  done !  Arduous,  yet  blessed,  and  delightful  task, 
because  undertaken  for,  and  executed  in,  the  best  interests  of 
human  kind.  True,  there  are  some  sharp  words  herein,  but 
those  to  whom  they  were  applied  knew  better  than  to  deserve 
them ;  besides  which  there  are  those  who  must  needs  be 
exposed  and  driven,  because  they  cannot  be  led.  And  now  this 
highest  and  holjest  work,  and  purpose  of  the  current  year  of  the 
lonely,  yet  not  lonely,  life  of  him  who,  for  the  ends  sought  to  be 
reached  in  this  book,  has  hitherto  hidden  his  identity  behind  a 
sound,  and  that  sound,  Casca  Llanna,  or  the  Falling  Waters,  is 
nearly  accomplished.  May  the  book  make  every  one  of  its 
readers,  truer,  higher,  and  better  for  having  glanced  along  its 
pages.  The  statement  has  already  been  made  herein,  that  the 
author  of  it  never  had  a  friend  on  earth.  That  expression 
needs  correction,  for  from  among  the  thousands  who  have  read 
his  works,  the  mail  brings  many  a  friendly  missive  from  afar ; 
but  the  words  meant  practical,  demonstrative,  financial  friend- 
ship, such  as  would  aid  him  in  his  work  for  the  world.  That 
sort  of  friendship  has  never  been  realized  by  him. 

Never  doubting  but  that  the  work  would  see  the  light  in  due 
season,  the  author  fek  encouraged  to  labor,  and  wait  for  the 
good  time,  by  the  s}-mpathies  and  silent  power,  if  not  the 
actual  presence  of  thousands  of  the  good  and  true,  and  noble 
hearts  of  earth ;  and  their  good  will  has  been  with  him  since 
that  sad  seventh  of  May,  wherein  a  new  purpose  was  born  in 
his  soul,  and  the  first  penful  of  ink  began  to  mark,  not  the  con- 
secutive story,  but  the  condensed  results  of  a  life's  observation, 
and  experience  in  the  vast,  and  not  yet  half-explored,  domain 
of  the  human  affections. 

Perhaps  a  better  book  can  be  written  on  the  grand  subject. 
No  one  will  hail  it,  come  whence  it  ma}T,  with  fuller  joy  than 
will  he  who  penned  this  one.     May  the  world  be  flooded  with 


374  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

them.     Such  a  deluge  is  needed  ;  and  the  quicker  it  comes  the 
sooner  it  will  be  cleansed. 

Go,  book,  and  begin  thy  work  in  the  lands,  in  the  nations,  and 
among  the  peoples.  Thou  wast  written  for  those  now  on  earth, 
and  for  those  who  shall  be  hereafter,  when  the  hand  that  penned 
thee  is  cold  in  death,  and  the  soul  that  gave  thee  birth  is  fast 
anchored  in  the  breast  of  God.  Born  out  of  the  very  deeps  of 
a  heart-anguish,  at  which  fools  and  granite  hearts  may  sillily 
laugh,  because  they  know  not  yet, —  God  grant  they  never  may 
-  that :  — 

"  'Tis  the  darkest  hour  before  the  morn! 
When  the  pain  is  sorest  the  child  is  born 
And  the  day  of  the  Lord  at  hand !  " 

They  may  laugh,  if  they  choose,  and  snap  their  fingers  in  idle 
heedlesness,  not  knowing  that  the  way  of  thought  is  rough  and 
hard  ;  that  we  cannot  pen  immortal  lines  save  when  the  heart  is 
bowed  with  some  deep  grief  and  sorrow ;  for  it  is  then,  and  then 
only  that :  — 

"  The  rapt  imagination  soars  on  high ; 
And  hears  the  jubilate  of  the  sky ; 
While  myriad  harps  sound  ;  Glory  to  the  Lamb ! ' 
And  swell  the  chorus  of  the  Great  I  Am !  " 

Casca  Llanna  has  been  laughed  at  for  years,  laughed  at  by 
honest  men  and  women,  never  once,  but  by  the  rogues,  the 
false  "  philosophers  "  and  lecturing  libertines  of  both  genders, 
often, —  chaff,  stubble  and  orts  of  the  world  ! 

.  .  .  .  It  was  no  part  of  the  writer's  design  to  make 
this  book  a  mere  physiological  treatise,  or  a  medical  essay,  as 
is  almost  always  the  temptation  of  every  writer  on  the  subject 
of  the  human  passions ;  but  rather  to  hold  the  mirror  up  to  na- 
ture, and  by  showing  the  operation  of  the  good,  and  the  tenden- 
cies of  the  evil,  to  encourage  the  better,  and  unmask  the  bad. 
Believing  that  we  all  have  more  of  heaven  in  us  than  its  oppo- 
site, the  end  of  the  author's  design  will  be  reached  if  he  shall 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AXD    MARRIAGE.  375 

succeed  in  impressing  these  truths  on  mankind  :  That  a  man's 
wife  should  be  his  goddess  ;  his  home  a  heaven  ;  his  daughters 
ministering  angels  ;  his  sons  genuine  men !  and  so  they  will 
be  when  all  the  current  false  theories  of  social  order  tumble 
headlong  to  the  ground,  killed  forever  dead  ;  and  when  love, 
asserting  itself,  shall  rise  as  a  sunburst  of  immortal  glory  to 
illumine  the  world  we  live  in ;  and  then,  but  not  till  that  day 
dawns,  not  on  this  globe,  but  in  each  of  our  souls,  will  a  man  feel 
himself  to  be  every  inch  a  king,  wholly  incapable  of  a  mean  and 
selfish  act ;  and  be  capable  of  looking  on  a  woman  with  pure 
eyes  only,  and  clean  heart,  pulsing  divine  music  in  her  radiant 
and  glorious  presence,  and  recognize  her  as  an  inhabitant  of  a 
social  paradise  whereof  himself  is  an  essential  part. 

When  marriage  is  as  it  should  be,  each  will,  because  they 
cannot  help  it,  think  the  other  the  acme  of  perfection,  of  all 
that  was  ever  seen  or  dreamed  of!  —  the  realization  of  the  dear- 
est hope  ever  sighed  for  by  human  beings. 

When  a  woman  loves,  her  perceptions  are  quicker  than  the 
lightning's  flash,  keener  than  its  edge  ;  and  let  her  husband 
know  all  he  may ;  let  his  mind  be  a  magazine  of  lore,  and  his 
memory  a  cyclopaedia,  and  her  intuitions  will  outshine  them  all ; 
hence  love  in  a  household  is  an  investment  sure  to  pay  in  a  hun- 
dred ways,  for  a  loving  woman  is  the  best  and  safest  adviser 
ever  a  man  had,  from  the  time  he  leads  her  to  the  altar  until 
the  moment  he  is  struck  with  immortality ! 

Onty  when  a  man  or  woman  loves  is  their  moral  strength  at 
its  maximum  or  highest  tide ;  and  he  or  she  who  really  loves, 
is  triply  armed  against  all  temptation,  especially  when  of  a 
purely  sensuous  nature,  —  which  temptations,  in  these  times, 
are  very  varied  and  formidable  ;  and  unless  a  rampart  of  true 
affection  shelters  a  woman,  or  man,  God  help  the  poor  besieged  ! 
Yesterday  a  resolution  was  taken  not  to  yield  to  the  control  of 
some  tempting,  besetting  sin,  again.  To-day  there  was  a  slight 
fall  —  like  the  servant  girl's  baby  —  it  was  only  a  little  one  t 
To-morrow  it  will  be  the  same  old  story  —  so  strong  is  human 
weakness.  Nothing  but  the  grace  of  God,  spare  diet,  and  cold 
water  is  effective  in  such  cases,  —  the  two  last  are  very  excel- 


376  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

lent,  and  are  more  easily  reached  than  the  first.  True,  pra}rer 
is  a  very  good  thing,  but  then  a  great  deal  of  watching  must 
needs  go  along  with  it.  "  Lead  us  not  into  temptation  "  is  cap- 
ital, so  far  as  it  goes,  but  "  run  straight  away  from  tempta- 
tion," provided  you  do  it,  is  a  great  deal  better,  provided, 
again,  that  you  keep  away ;  for  just  as  sure  as  a  tempted  man 
or  woman  stops  to  "  consider  about  it,"  or  to  "  argue  the  point," 
your  case  is  done  up  completely,  and  you'll  just  as  surely 
c*  fall  again  "  as  that  ducks  will  swim  if  there's  a  chance.  There's 
a  little  concupiscent  devil  running  loose  about  the  world,  busily 
intent  upon  raising  pandemonium  with  everjrbody  and  every- 
where. * 

It  will  not  be  so  in  the  better  time,  because  then  each  will 
feel  toward  the  other  sentiments  of  affection  and  esteem,  such 
as  cannot  be  inspired  by  any  other  human  being. 

How  can  it  be  otherwise  when  marriage  is  the  joining  of 
hearts  and  natures,  instead  of,  as  too  often  in  these  days, 
bodies  and  estates  ! 

How  can  a  married  pair  fill  the  true  bill  of  wifehood  and  hus- 
bandage,  or  anything  else,  any  other  great  human  duty,  prop- 
erly, and  as  befits  immortal  beings,  while  in  a  whirl  of  constant 
bicker,  fret,  turmoil,  and  social  and  domestic  hurricanes,  tem- 
pests, and  drizzling  streets  of  discontent?  How  can  they  real- 
ize the  glorified  life  of  a  true  believer,  or  bathe  themselves  in 
the  full,  deep  tides  of  the  eternal  mercy  gushing  from  the  infi- 
nite, everlasting  beneficence  ?  The  gabble  of  ten  billions  such 
is  far  outweighed  by  a  single  sentence  like  the  following,  which 
is  taken  from  a  letter  written  by  a  correspondent,  Hannibal, 
Oswego  Co.,  N.  Y.,  and  received  this  August  1st,  1871  :  — 

"  Let  me  say  in  conclusion  that  the  characters  embodied  in 
your  writings  portray  my  highest  ideal  of  manly  perfection. 
Nobility  of  soul  breathes  through  every  line,  and  true  man- 
hood shines  through  and  permeates  every  sentence." 

Of  course  the  correspondent's  estimate  is  too  high,  yet  it  is 
deeply  gratifying  to  know  that  a  book  of  his  has  awakened 
such  an  appreciation,  and  that  the  lessons  taught,  and  also 


WOMAN*   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  377 

striven  to  be  learned,  have  not  been  in  vain.     Thank  Heaven 
such  letters  are  plentiful ! 

And  so,  Book  of  the  heart,  dearer  to  the  soul  that  gave  thee 
being,  than  the  apple  of  an  eye  !  go  thou  forth  to  make  mankind 
better,  truer,  nobler  than  thou  findest  them,  by  teaching  the  un- 
learned lesson  of  forbearance,  self-control,  self  and  God  reli- 
ance, and  genuine  self-respect ;  for  whoso  respect  themselves 
respect  others,  and  by  those  others  are  in  turn  respected ! 
which,  be  it  known,  is  ever  the  case  with  true  Christians  and 
sensible  conservatives,  never  the  case  with  come-outers,  radicals, 
atheists,  freedomites,  or  any  of  that  ilk  or  genus  —  or  any 
species  of  ists,  ites  or  ologists  whatever,  who,  when  measured 
at  their  real  value,  are  found  to  be  but  the  froth  of  life  —  the 
scum  of  the  human  sea  !  —  which  is  why  the  writer  of  this  left 
them  long  ago,  finding,  as  he  did,  that  their  .straight  road  to  heaven 
and  manlihood  led  directly  to  the  swamps  of  irreligion,  scepti- 
cism and  hell,  and  afforded  not  a  single  passage  out,  and  ended 
there.  In  short,  this  writer  never  saw  an  ist,  ologist  or  ite,  of  any 
sort  or  sex,  whom  he  found  on  trial  not  to  be  more  firmly  wed- 
ded to  destruction  than  upbuilding,  lust  than  love,  and  deep 
damning  villany  than  honest,  straight-out  manhood  and  goodness. 
He  makes  no  exceptions  whatever,  among  all  whom  he  ever 
saw,  spoke  to,  or  knew,  from  January  1st,  1848,  to  Dec.  1st, 
1871.  On  the  other  hand  he  never  found  as  many  bad,  soiled, 
dishonest,  lust-driven  wretches  in  twenty  }rears  among  the  con- 
servative and  Christian  classes,  as  he  found  among  radicals  in 
any  single  month  during  that  prolonged  period.  These  things 
are  said  as  a  last  and  final  testimony  against  radicalism,  and  in 
favor  of  the  undefiled  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  Let  this  testi- 
mony endure  while  he  lives,  and  be  quoted  when  he  shall  be 
dead  !  And  further,  on  the  love  subject,  let  it  be  said  that  he 
never  saw  a  female  radical  whom  he  did  not  believe  to  be  wholly 
demoralized  to,  and  beyond  the  degree  of  recovery ;  nor  a  male 
fit  to  be  trusted  alone  with  any  decent  respectable  female.  It  is 
not  so  in  the  Christian  ranks.  It  is  never  otherwise  in  those  of 
radicals !  Were  company  of  the  latter  class  coming  to  his 
house,  he  would  never  trust  wife  or  daughter  out  of  his  sight, 


878  WOMAN,   EOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

and  within  the  sphere  of  their  influence  a  single  hour !  nor  his 
sons  either !  because  an  experience  measured  by  years  has 
proved  radicalism  rotten  to  the  core,  of  the  deepest  hells  hell- 
ish, utterly  and  totally  demoralizing  ;  and  to  tamper  with  it  is 
to  be  soiled  within  and  without ;  for  never  yet  has  he  seen  a  man 
or  woman  made  better,  but  thousands  made  worse  by  it ;  and 
he  never  knew  a  single  good  thing  come  of  it  from  first  to  last ! 

Mrs.  Gossip  :  "  Oh,  what  a  villain  and  rake  that  Charley  is  ! 
Don't  you  believe  last  week  he  had  a  lady  in  his  room  —  all 
alone !  —  when  suddenly  there  came  a  rap  at  the  door,  and  he 
hid  the  good-for-nothing  in  a  closet.  "Well,  don't  you  think  ! 
when  the  visitors  came  in  they  suspicioned  his  rascality,  and  one 
of  them  tried  the  closet  door — I  really  thought  I  should  !  —  but 
when  the  door  opened,  she  jumped  out'n  the  window  —  and  I 
really  thought  Pel  broke  my  neck!" 

Now  whenever  you  hear  a  gossip's  tongue  run  to  you  about 
some  one  else's  shortcomings,  rest  assured  that  said  tongue  will 
also  serve  yon  up  at  the  very  first  chance ! 

Many  men  fall  in  war  and  are  lost ;  more  men  fall  in  love  and 
are  ruined.  The  world  is  yet  barbaric,  and  it  won't  do  to  put 
too  much  trust,  or  confide  too  freely,  in  passional  humanity ; 
for  when  the  tide  fails,  word,  honor,  promise  and  faith  go  out 
with  it !     What's  a  house  without  a  woman  ?  — Sure  enough ! 

A  writer  in  Theodore  Tilton's  "  Golden  Age  "  broke  ground  in  favor  of 
a  larger  liberty  in  heart  affairs  than  conservative  morals  allow,  whereupon 
another  writer  breaks  ground  and  Tilton's  writer  to  boot,  on  the  other  side, 
but  in  the  article  attacks  Tilton  instead  of  his  correspondent.  The  reader 
will  therefore  do  Mr.  Tilton  justice  and  lay  the  odium  where  it  rightly  be- 
longs. 

"  Deak  Sin:  —  You  have  recently  said  in  '  The  Golden  Age,'  'I  hold 
that  love,  and  love  only,  constitutes  marriage ;  that  marriage  makes  the 
bond,  not  the  bond  the  marriage ;  and  that,  as  the  contract  is  to  love  and 
honor,  so  that  when  the  love  and  honor  end,  the  contract  dissolves  and  the 
marriage  ceases.'  Doubtless  this  is  practically  true.  If  you  fail  to  do 
what  you  promise  to  do ;  if  the  fulfilment  ceases  entirely,  and  the  bond  is 
by  you  utterly  broken  and  thrown  away,  undoubtedly  your  crime  is  the 
death  of  the  contract.  That  fact  was  tolerably  familiar  as  far  back  as  the 
Stone  Age,  the  savage  philosophy  of  which  you  will  hardly  be  able  to  prove 
a  golden  fruit  of  new  culture.  There  probably  is  not  a  decent  woman  on 
the  globe  who,  properly  comprehending  your  statement,  will  not  confess 
its  ugly  truth.     A  promise  to  pay  dies  when  the  paying  finally  ceases.     A 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  379 

promise  to  love  and  honor  dies  when  the  loving  and  honoring  finally  cease. 
The  bright  honor  of  the  promise  being  gone,  its  veracity  gone,  everything 
that  it  was  entirely  gone,  of  course  it  is  gone,  with  all  which  it  created.  And 
that  is  your  theory  of  the  treatment  of  woman,  to  get  rid  of  the  marriage 
by  getting  rid  of  the  contract  creating  it,  and  to  get  rid  of  the  contract  by 
the  method  of  dishonor! 

"  I  take  in  hand  the  case  which  you  commonly  put,  that  of  the  man 
against  the  woman.  You  say,  '  I  would  no  more  permit  the  law  of  the 
land  to  enchain  ma  to  a  woman  whom  I  did  not  love  than  I  would  permit 
the  same  law  to  handcuff  me  as  a  slave.'  I  omit  part  of  your  sentence, 
which  does  not  affect  the  case  of  man  simply,  in  his  treatment  of  woman 
and  wife.  In  what  I  quote  you  declare  that  you  will  not  permit  the  law 
of  the  land  to  hold  you  to  your  own  free  promise  and  sacred  contract. 
Have  you  no  logic?  Is  this  a  question  of  taking  you  by  force  and  hand- 
cuffing you  to  a  woman  against  your  will  ?  If  it  is  not,  then  there  is  no 
argument  in  your  comparison.  Is  slavery  the  slave's  free  and  honorable 
contract?  If  it  is  not,  then  there  is  not  a  jot  of  reason  in  the  assumed 
analogy.  .  No,  sir;  this  is  a  question  of  your  contract  with  a  woman,  made 
upon  free  and  urgent  desire,  freely  and  deliberately  made,  made  with  the 
combined  seriousness  and  sacredness  of  religion  and  law,  religion  for  the 
reality  of  the  bond,  and  law  for  the  cover  and  form  of  the  bond,  the  relig- 
ion not  leaning  one  whit  for  truth  on  the  law,  nor  the  law  intruding  one 
hair's  breadth  upon  the  religion,  but  both  agreeing  to  seal  a  contract  the 
most  firm  and  sure,  as  it  is  the  most  free  and  deliberate,  known  to  human 
economy. 

"The  matter  of  some  other  relation  than  a  marriage  of  love  and  honor 
would,  of  course,  raise  other  questions.  But  these  I  need  not  discuss.  If 
one  wants  a  concubine,  one  or  more,  the  world  is  wide,  and  hell  thereof 
sufficiently  accessible.  But  I  assume  that  you  mean,  not  that  consciously 
and  deliberately,  but  good  and  true  marriage.  Therefore,  I  am  bound  to 
find  in  your  words  the  declaration  that  you  will  not  let  the  law  of  the  land 
hold  you  to  your  own  free  and  solemn  contract.  And  your  reason  for  re- 
fuging to  have  the  form  of  honor  maintained  by  the  law  is  that  you  do  not 
mean  to  be  held  to  the  fact  of  honor.  It  is  not  that  you  would  have  relig- 
ion alone  constrain  you  to  fulfil  your  contract,  but  that  you  want  a  chance 
to  violate  your  contract.  You  say  'love  should  be  like  religion,  free 
from  mandate  by  the  civil  law,'  and  you  prophesy  that  '  the  next  genera- 
tion will  gild  this  sentiment  with  fine  gold.'  The  sentiment  has  been  done 
in  brass  a  sufficiently  long  time  to  be  familiar,  and  would  not  be  much  im- 
proved if  the  next  generation  should  make  of  it  a  goldenseals  I  mean  the 
sentiment  of  love  free  to  violate  contracts.  You  seem  to  invoke  religion ; 
in  fact,  you  invoke  nothing  but  rascality.  For  you  demand  freedom  to 
violate  the  religion,  as  well  as  the  law,  of  marriage,  to  break  your  religious 
promise  as  well  as  your  legal.  You  only  care  to  have  the  law  let  you 
alone  in  order  that  you  may  leave  the  woman  to  whom  religion  has  bound 
you. 

"  There  is  but  one  ground  which  I  need  to  consider  here  to  make  plain 
the  infamous  character  of  the  license  to  violate  both  religion  and  law 
which  you  demand  for  yourself;  and  that  is  the  reason  which  the  woman 
you  wish  to  put  away  had  to  require  of  you  a  contract,  a  deeply  religious 
and  firmly  legal  contract,  as  the  basis  of  marriage.  You  desired  her  to 
give  you,  irrevocably,  that  honor  of  person  and  life  which  is  the  sacrament 
of  her  existence.  You  wished  to  take  from  hor  sureties  of  marriage, 
which,  once  given,  are  forever  given.  There  doubtless  are  females  dis- 
eased in  body  and  imagination  from  their  birth,  to  whom  honor  is  not 


380  WOMAN,   LOVE)   AND   MARRIAGE, 

honor  under  any  constraints  of  solemn  promise  of  unchanging  fidelity. 
But  the  average  decent  woman,  to  whom  nakedness  is  not  necessary  to 
the  perfect  luxury  of  chastity,  requires,  and  must  always  require,  the 
strongest  assurance  of  that  protection  for  her  honor,  which  only  a  deep 
religious  promise  of  unchanging  fidelity  can  give.  If  you  do  not  mean  to 
offer  this  in  seeking  a  woman  in  marriage,  then  you  do  not  mean  love  and 
honor,  and  propose  a  marriage  which  is  a  swindle  and  an  outrage.  Such 
rascality  is  but  too  possible  where  there  is  a  question  of  winning  a  woman, 
the  winning  to  enjoy  is  so  much  more  to  the  average  male  mind  than  the 
winning  to  love  and  honor.  In  a  state  of  double  guardianship  of  woman, 
by  religion  and  by  law,  it  is  still  a  fearfully  common  thing  for  men  to  simu- 
late or  imagine,  under  the  impulse  of  desire,  love  and  honor  which  do  not 
exist.  Hence  the  necessity  to  woman  of  law  to  give  form  to  the  fact,  or 
the  fancy,  of  love  and  honor,  which  form  her  sole  security  in  marriage. 
Law  will  forbid  the  man  to  let  his  desires  wander ;  it  will  at  least  compel 
him  to  maintain  a  decent  form  of  permanent  protection  for  woman.  The 
double  contract,  religious  for  the  real  fact,  and  legal  for  the  outward 
cover  and  form,  is  no  more  than  a  woman  may  demand. 

"I  have  spoken  only  of  the  woman's  honor.  It  were  enough  to  speak 
of  that.  But  beyond  that  is  her  chance  in  life,  which,  on  the  average,  is 
terribly  injured  by  the  miscarriage  of  a  marriage  relation.  She  can  give 
but  once  the  fairest  freshness  of  her  nature.  Too  often,  if  set  aside,  she 
must  remain  a  rejected  thing,  perhaps  helpless  to  live,  except  by  methods 
of  direct  toil  or  uttermost  shame.  It  must  be  more  than  a  slight  cause, 
more  than  an  ordinary  reason,  which  can  make  her  willing  to  forego  the 
foiin  at  least  of  love  and  honor,  which  may  be  decent  even  if  it  be  empty. 
"  But,  still  more,  there  is  motherhood,  adding  in  every  way  to  the 
stringency  of  the  necessities  already  considered.  The  mother  and  children 
must  live,  must  have  care  and  kindness  for  years  onward  into  the  future ; 
must  depend  on  the  marriage  already  existing,  and  on  the  husband  and 
father  whose  is  the  sole  responsibility  in  the  matter,  and  must  look  for  love 
and  honor,  in  form,  at  least,  and  decency,  if  not  in  fact  and  blessed  sweet- 
ness, to  the  man  who  stands  before  God  and  the  law  held  to  render  these 
by  the  most  solemn  of  contracts.  Therefore,  woman  cannot  but  ask  for, 
yea,  insist  on,  this  double  contract.  Religion  alone  would  answer  this  pur- 
pose if  it  would  enchain  wandering  desires  and  handcuff  libertine  rascality. 
But  this  religion  alone  cannot  do,  as  surely  as  law  with  religion  can  do  it. 
The  man  who  honestly  means  a  religious  contract,  cannot  refuse  to  woman 
the  added  assurance  of  the  legal  contract.  If  any  man  does  not  honestly 
mean  what  he  promises,  to  enchain  and  handcuff  him  is  utterly  and  abso- 
lutely necessary,  if  restraint  of  wrong-doing  is  anywhere  a  necessity.  No 
other  than  a  criminal  can  feel  his  contract  with  a  woman  as  chains  and 
slavery. 

"  What,  then,  Mr.  Tilton,  do  you  mean  by  your  declaration  that  you  will 
not  let  the  law  of  the  land  hold  you  to  a  contract  which  you  wish  to  vio- 
late ?  If  you  mean  criminal  outrage,  you  will  find  the  law  of  the  land  able 
to  hold  you,  or  at  least  able  to  brand  you  as  a  monster. 

"In  the  last  issue  of  '  The  Golden  Age  'you  argue  the  matter  again.  You 
say  that  '  Love  is  love  —  not  liking,  not  friendliness,  not  kindness,  not  es- 
teem, but  love  —  and  if  a  man  has  ceased  to  feel  it  for  the  woman  who  sits 
at  the  other  end  of  his  breakfast  table,  which  is  the  most  moral  —  or  least 
immoral,  if  you  will  —  for  him  to  break  the  chains  which  bind  him,  break 
them  as  gently  and  unselfishly  as  he  may,  but  in  some  wise  set  himself 
free,  put  himself  in  a  position  to  live  a  true  life ;  or  to  wear  his  fetters  un- 


WOMAN-,    LOVE,    AXD   MAItRIAGE.  381 

complainingly,  silently,  but  invoking  meanwhile  all  the  lightnings  of  heaven 
to  do  for  him  what  he  has  not  the  courage  to  do  for  himself 

"  If  this  were  meant  for  the  persiflage  of  a  gay  rake,  justifying  variety 
'  at  the  head  of  his  breakfast  table,'  I  could  understand  it.  You  speak  of 
the  man  only,  as  if  the  woman  were  not  of  much  account  in  the  matter. 
You  seem  to  hold  her  cheaper  than  men  of  free  lives  commonly  hold  a  mis- 
tress. Her  honor,  which  you  cannot  give  back,  her  wifehood,  which  rests 
on  her  honor,  her  motherhood,  which  must  continue  none  the  less  for  your 
desertion,  and  to  which  you  owe  eternal  fidelity, —  these  you  make  of  no  ac- 
count; she  merely  '  sits  at  the  head  of  your  table,'  and  it  is  a  question  of 
leaving  her  to  sit  there  alone  or  of  driving  her  out  into  the  world.  And 
that  you  call  the  Age  of  Gold.  It  looks  to  me  more  like  the  time  when 
tools  were  first  made  of  bronze  after  the  coarse  patterns  of  the  Age  of 
Stone.  There  is  not  so  much  manliness  in  your  whimpering  appeal  to  the 
moral  law  as  ruled  the  breasts  of  the  cave-dwellers,  who  would  have  broken 
your  head  with  a  stone  hatchet,  and  served  you  right,  if  you  had  thus  pro- 
posed to  quit  your  marital  obligations.  You  might  easily  be  set  down  as 
half  fool  and  half  knave  in  this  plea,  if  it  were  possible  to  see  that  in  either 
character  you  are  at  all  deficient.  You  sit  there  wishing  her  dead ;  you 
confess  that  what  you  thus  do  '  has  the  spirit  of  murder  in  it.'  You  quote 
a  church-member  who  said  that  it  was  impossible  for  human  nature  not  to 
cherish  this  murderous  wish  under  such  circumstances  ;  and  then  you  tri- 
umphantly ask  whether  it  is  better  to  murder  the  woman  or  to  put  her 
away.  Either  may  be  better  for  the  woman,  but  the  question  is  what  you 
are  bound  to  do,  not  what  is  worst  of  the  crimes  you  say  you  intend  to 
choose  between. 

"You  go  on  with  Stone-Age  morality  of  this  sort:  '  What  if  the  wom- 
an who  pleased  your  youth  has  no  charm  for  your  manhood?  What  if  you 
married,  as  most  men  do,  who  marry  young,  in  utter  ignorance  of  yourself 
and  your  own  needs  ?  You  wake  up  some  day  to  realize  that  you  are  a 
stranger  at  your  own  hearthstone  —  that  there  is  no  one  there  who  com- 
prehends your  purposes  or  shares  your  tastes  ? 

Just  when  you  have  settled  yourself  to  your  fate,  you  meet  —  does  God  or 
Satan  throw  it  in  your  way  ?  —  the  not  impossible  she  who  can  command 
your  soul.     Before  you  know  it  you  love,  simply  as  the  earth  grows  warm 

when  the  sun  shines  on  it Something  jangles  in 

your  wife's  voice  —  the  voice  is  well  enough,  the  discord  is  because  you 

hear  at  the  same  time  another  voice  in  your  ears 'If 

I  were  but  free  —  if  I  were  but  free  ! '  goes  dizzily  through  and  through 
your  brain,  like  the  refrain  of  a  hunting  song.' 

"And  your  conundrum  is  —  Which  woman?  Well,  T.  Tilton,  I  can- 
didly advise  you  to  get  your  sweet  young  soul  damned  to  everlasting  per- 
dition rather  than  forsake  the  wife  of  your  youth.  You  might  have  chosen 
better,  but  you  chose,  and  honor,  whiter  than  heaven,  binds  you.  About 
the  binding  of  the  woman  I  am  not  speaking.  If  she  has  a  father  to  go 
to,  probably  she  had  better  leave  a  husband  who  confesses  to  murder  lurk- 
ing in  one  eye  and  lust  leering  out  of  the  other.  You  might  be  tempted  to 
send  her  on  a  Sunday  excursion  to  Staten  Island ;  or  you  might  burden 
yourself  with  two  domestic  establishments,  to  the  great  peril  of  the  Age 
of  Gold.  Probably  the  woman  had  better  leave  you  if  she  can,  but  lay 
not  the  flattering  unction  to  your  soul  that  you  are  a  man,  even  of  the 
Stone- Age  sort.  You  are  an  incipient  hellion,  if  I  may  be  pardoned  for  a 
strong  but  not  unsuitable  term.  You  have  hell  on  the  brain,  you  that 
think  that  to  be  kind,  and  friendly,  and  full  of  gracious  respect  to  your 
wedded  wife,  is  a  mean  and  empty,  and  comparativoly  immoral  thing, 


382  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

because  there  is  another  woman  who  might  be  more  to  you  than  the  wife 
can  be.  You  talk  about  '  so  to  situate  yourself  that  you  can  live  an  hon- 
est and  true  life ! '  You  are  already  situate  with  the  damned,  and  this 
hankering  of  your  soul  for  some  other  woman,  and  wish  that  the  one  you 
have  were  dead,  is  a  foretaste  of  deepest  hell. 

"  Let  me  show  you  the  path  to  heaven.  Your  wife,  we  will  assume, 
cannot  follow  your  soaring  genius.  You  are  poetic,  and  she  prosaic. 
Apollo  would  envy  your  beauty,  and  she  is  homely.  You  '  command  '  no 
end  of  women,  and  she  cannot  command  even  her  husband's  honor,  not  to 
speak  of  his  love.  The  world  rings  with  your  praises,  and  she  scolds  and 
frets  in  your  kitchen.  I  imagine  I  put  it  very  strong,  especially  this  about 
your  praises,  but  never  mind.  Now,  T.  Tilton,  get  right  down  from  your 
stilts,  clean  down  upon  your  knees,  and  try  to  imagine  at  least  that  not  all 
the  great  gods  nod  when  you  nod.  Yon  probably  can't  humble  yourself, 
even  before  God  Almighty,  enough  to  feel  that  your  wife  is  quite  as  good 
as  you  deserve  —  not  to  say  a  great  deal  better.  But  you  are  perhaps 
come  down  enough  to  nartly  understand  what  a  knightly  humility  is.  Then 
you  may  remind  yourself  what  your  contract  of  love  and  honor  is,  and 
swear  by  bright  honor's  self  that  you  will  keep  your  promise  made  to  the 
woman  who  has  given  you  her  all.  Never  mind  occasional  Christians  of 
the  African  convert  type,  who  would  kill  and  eat  the  old  wife  to  be  free 
with  a  fresh  '  not  impossible  she.'  The  notion  that  you  cannot  be 
decently  and  happily  true,  at  least  in  some  large  measure  of  unwearied 
courtesjr,  and  kindness,  and  esteem,  and  fidelity,  is  one  of  the  devil's  own. 
Better  go  to  hell  with  a  red-hot  stopple  in  your  gullet  than  put  your  lips  to 
that  cup  of  perdition,  the  notion  that  desire  for  another  woman  is  your 
supreme  necessity.  Desire  is  doubtless  a  thorn  in  the  flesh  to  sweet  young 
things  like  you,  but  you  can  be  a  man  nevertheless,  keeping  decently  and 
honorably  the  woman  you  are  enchained  to,  and  manfully  denying,  destroy- 
ing even,  the  desire  which  is  not  of  honor  any  more  that  it  is  of  law.  Try 
that  for  ten  years,  T.  Tilton,  and  though  many  virgins  will  tempt  you,  and 
desire  may  continue  to  trouble,  there  will  be  neither  murder  nor  lust  in 
your  heart,  but  a  manly  effort  at  least  for  the  honor,  which  will  be  the  very 
gate  of  heaven  to  you,  and  a  world  of  comfort  to  the  woman  who  was  so 
unfortunate  as  to  marry  a  man  too  young  and  too  weak  to  put  intelligence 
and  conscience  into  the  most  solemn  contract  which  any  man  can  make." 

Exit  that  particular  "Free-Love"  correspondent,  not  in  a 
"  blaze  of  glory." 

Up-hill,  from  the  precious  arms  of  the  dear  mother  who  bore 
him,  and  who  went  to  heaven  when  he  was  but  five  years  old, — 
leaving  him  alone,  friendless,  and  very  sensitive  —  to  the  tender 
mercies  of  a  very  cold  world,  Casca  Llanna  (the  author's 
real  name  is  that  recorded  as  author  of  the  other  A-olumes  of 
this  series)  has  fought  his  way  along  and  alone  to  this  triumphant 
victoiy  —  for  it  is  a  victoiy  to  see  this  work  in  print !  Alone  ? 
No  !  not  alone,  for  he  is  never  alone  who  believes  in  God  and 
loves  his  mother !  for  even  the  blessed  angels  from  the  far-off 
starry  worlds  of  light  quit  their  bright  abodes  and  cleave  their 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AXD   MARRIAGE.  383 

swift  way  through  the  spacial  vastitudes,  to  protectingly  reach 
his  side  who  trusts  in  God,  and  loves  his  mother !  So  have 
they  in  the  case  of  hirn  whose  hand  pens  these  pages. 

One  year's  schooling  only  fell  to  his  lot.  He  taught  himself  to 
read  —  his  primers  were  the  posters  in  the  streets,  his  copy- 
books the  fences,  his  pen  a  bit  of  chalk  !  What  of  it?  There's 
no  difficulty  to  him  who  truly  wills  and  looketh  up  to  God  in 
perfect  faith.     Io  Triomphe  ! 

Married  twice.  Radicalism  debauched  both  wives,  and  ren- 
dered a  happy  home  a  wilderness  of  woe.  Then  he  thought  his 
troubles  over  when  the  heart  grew  well  again.  But  no.  God 
called  up  an  angel  from  the  deep  and  said  :  "  Go  thou  to  him 
and  mask  a  terrible  hell  beneath  the  smiles  of  Heaven.  Open 
his  soul ;  tap  thou  the  deep  fountains  of  his  spirit ;  let  the  sharp 
pangs  of  daily  death  be  his  ;  crush  his  heart,  his  hopes,  his  all, 
let  him  bleed  at  every  pore  —  do  everything  but  slay  him,  and 
then  when  he  lies  at  the  last  gasp,  when  men  forsake  and  re- 
vile him,  when  hope  fails,  and  all  to  him  seems  nearly  lost,  put 
thou  a  pen  in  his  hand,  and  burning,  fieiy,  heart-words  on  his 
lips,  and  bid  him  face  the  world  and  speak  !  look  up  to  Heaven 
and  awa\r  from  hell,  and  write  !  "  And  lo,  it  was  done  ;  and  he 
took  a  new  name,  and  he  spoke  till  strength  gave  out,  and 
then  Casca  Llanna  wrote  other  books  as  well  as  this,  the  object  of 
all  of  them  being  to  teach  the  married  that  each  —  as  well  as 
the  children  kind  Heaven  may  have  sent  them — has  inborn 
rights  which  both  are  reciprocally  bound  to  respect.  That  each 
are  individuals  in  their  own  right  as  well  as  parties  to  the  social 
compact,  and  that  each  nature  wants  sympathy  in  its  own 
special,  as  well  as  in  the  common  key !  That  each  demands,  by 
virtue  of  their  mutual  interrelations,  trust  in  its  absolute 
fulness  ;  affection  in  all  its  deep  sincerity  ;  and  respect  in  all  its 
delicacy  and  profundity  ;  and  teach  them  that  out  of  such  a 
state  of  things  will  come  a  fusion  and  blending  so  perfect  as 
to  be  incapable  of  severance,  even  by  the  sharp,  keen  knife  of 
death  itself. 

Love,  in  its  purit}',  is  like  a  gentle  rain,  which,  falling  on  the 
barren  moors  and  fields,  and  arid  plains  and   yellow  wastes, 


384  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

presently  fills  the  interstices,  causing  them  to  swell  with  grati- 
tude, and  then,  opening  earth's  pores,  woos,  and  then  by  and  by 
wins  the  delicious  greenery  to  uplift  in  peerless  beauty,  and 
ere  long  ripen  into  gladsome  golden  grain  ! 

Love  is  like  a  little  tiny  ripple  on  the  mountain's  side,  gather- 
ing its  fellows  as  it  courses  down  the  yielding  soil,  increasing 
its  volume  as  it  gayly  sails  toward  the  far-off  sea,  no  longer  a 
rippling  tendril  of  flashing  water,  but  a  bubbling,  gurgling, 
pebble-washing  brook,  ambitious  of  the  honors  and  the  powers 
of  riverhood,  which  anon  it  achieves,  then  broadens  out  into  a 
grand  smile  ;  a  silvery,  sheeny,  beautiful  lake  ;  of  which,  when 
it  has  its  fill  of  joy,  it  takes  its  leave,  and  again  flowing  on 
as  a  mighty  river,  feels  the  pulse  of  power,  ,narrows  its  boun- 
daries, and  moves  with  stately  energy  toward  the  rapids,  and 
gliding  still  boldly  takes  the  leap  over  the  precipice  —  Death  ! 
knowing  it  will  be  the  same  water  on  the  other  side  ;  nor  is  it 
mistaken  ;  but,  bubbling  up  its  thanks  to  the  Maker,  enters 
the  infinite,  eternal  ocean,  all  dotted  and  spangled  with  islet 
gems,  radiant  and  glorious  with  the  ineffable  sunshine  of  the 
Redeeming  God,  —  the  transcendent  smiles  of  the  Over  Soul! 

Go  thou,  O  Book,  and  teach  men  this  grand  story ;  and  say 
besides,  to  wedded  pairs,  You  are,  or  should  be,  all  in  all  to 
each  other,  for  none  others  can  be.  No  one  but  yourselves  can 
know  yourselves  as  you  knew  each  other  ;  nor  can  any  but  your 
two  selves  share,  or  even  imagine,  your  real  life,  or  appreciate 
your  actual  lot.  What  others  think  of,  or  say  about  you,  does 
not  amount  to  much  at  best,  so  far  as  your  real  life  is  concerned  ; 
but  what  3rou  think  about  and  say  of  each  other  amounts  to  a 
very  great  deal. 

It  is  certain  that  God  will  not  hold  any  of  us  responsible  for 
what  the  people  say  concerning  us,  but  only  for  what  we  really 
are  ;  and  even  then  will  take  circumstances  into  account,  know- 
ing that  the  play  of  forces  upon  us  very  often  deflects  our  path 
from  that  which,  under  better  conditions,  we  most  unquestiona- 
bly would  have  pursued. 

Unwise  wives  often  do  much  toward  tearing  down  the  temple 
of  marriage  and  their  own  happiness,  until  both  crumble  away 


WOMAN)    LOVE)  AND   MAURI  AGE.  385 

and  topple  over  forever  and  aye  ;  but  wise  wives  pursue  another 
course,  and  seek  in  every  way  to  upbuild  and  strengthen  the 
immortal  structures.  The  one  says,  let  it  fall,  and  it  falls  ;  the 
olher  says,  touch  it  not  dcstroyingly,  let  it  grow  firmer  and 
stronger,  and  it  does  so,  because  one  realizes  nothing  of  love 
and  its  fruition ;  the  other  knows  that  when  love  dies  out,  life 
is  worthless,  and  true  happiness  has  fled  forever  and  forever- 
more. 

Married  life  is  the  true  field  for  working  out  human  destinies  ; 
and  is,  of  all  others,  the  grand  problem  which  only  the  twain 
directly  concerned  can  truly  solve.  The  sum  resultant  is  either 
happiness  or  misery,  and  for  }7our  own  sakes,  O  wedded  pairs  — 
and  for  God's  sake  —  see  to  it  that  it  is  rightly  solved,  and  that 
the  scale  of  wretchedness  kicks  the  beam  ;  for  none  but  a  true 
wife  or  husband  can  ever  fill  the  infinite  void  born  in  every 
human  heart.  Not  all  the  free  love  on  the  globe  could  cover  the 
floors  an  inch  deep,  and  the  sides  of  that  void  reach  unto 
heaven !  —  so  vast  is  the  human  soul !  —  so  immense  its  capacity 
for  love ! 

Outside  of  marriage  a  woman  may  be  almost  perfect ;  so  may 
a  man  be.  But  let  them  wed,  and  each  loses  their  respective  dis- 
tinctiveness and  almost  sinks  to  nothingness,  else  the}'  coalesce 
and  the  two  great  beings  develop  joys  too  vast  for  little  souls  to 
comprehend  or  fathom.  This  or  that ;  there's  no  middle  ground. 
Marriage  makes  us  either  better  or  worse  than  we  were  before, 
—  and  there's  more  worse  than  better  in  these  gala  days  of 
radicalism  —  which,  thank  God,  are  already  numbered! 

Individuals,  solus,  count  for  either  less  or  more  than  their 
separate  values  in  the  dual  account ;  because  the  wedded  state 
is  a  relation  developing  results  differing  entirely  from  those  of 
either,  singly  considered.  Think  of  this,  O  wonjan !  ponder 
this,  O  man ! 

A  great  deal  of  stress  is  laid  by  modern  writers  on  the  in- 
compatibilities of  age,  just  as  if  years  mai'ked  the  growth  of 
souls !  If  minds,  hearts,  purposes,  are  right,  years  make  little 
difference,  in  spite  of  seeming  disparities,  because  Love  has  no 
ago  beyond  puberty,  and  its  presence  makes  eternal  spring  1 


386  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 


SHE  WAS  ALL   THE  WORLD   TO  ME ! 

So  innocent  and  gentle  —  in  the  sunny  days  now  fled,  — 

So  pure  and  sweet,  and  tender,  when  Virtue  crowned  her  head ; 

Her  eyes  were  soft  and  loving ;  like  roses  was  her  breath ! 

But  they  envied  me  my  happiness,  and  they  drew  her  down  to  Death. 

They  said  "  The  Christian  System  "  was  opposed  to  human  truth, — 

That  Marriage  was  a  living  tomb,  engulfing  peace  and  youth; 

And  they  won  her  from  my  side  to  san  upon  their  stormy  sea,  — 

She  who  was  my  life  and  light,  and  all  the  world  to  me. 

Poor  me !  My  heart  is  very  sore,  since  the  sad  and  gloomy  day 
When  the  smiling  tempters  came  along,  and  stole  my  wife  away, 
With    their    "Eights"     and     "Revolutions,"    and    their    God-denying 

"  Cause,"  — 
Their  "  Freedoms  "  and  "  Affinities  "  and  "  New  Code  of  Social  Laws." 
They  demoralized  an  angel ;  and  they  led  her  to  the  bad ;  — 
She  so  pure  and  truthful,  richest  treasure  e'er  I  had ; 
And  when  she  fell,  deserted  her,  with  scorn  and  demon  glee,  — 
The  woman  whom  /worshipped  —  who  was  all  the  world  to  me  ! 

When  Poverty  came  on  apace,  his  "  love  "  came  to  an  end ; 

He  bartered  her  with  shameless  face  and  sold  her  to  his  "Friend!  " 

Put  her  beauty  in  the  market,  to  bring  Mm  golden  store ; 

And  she  fell  a  trifle  lower,  who  had  fallen  low  before  : 

And  her  bright  and  happy  heart  became  to  every  virtue  steeled, 

Until  she  died,  a  Suicide,  her  grave  the  potter's  field : 

lie  laid  her  there !     0  black  despair !  —  and  smiled  with  hellish  glee, 

That  he  had  gotten  rid  of  her,  — who  was  all  the  world  to  me. 

And  then  I  bowed  me  down  and  cried,  "  Have  pity,  God!  "  and  wept, 

Till  fire  kindled  in  my  soul,  where  quietude  had  slept ; 

And  a  voice  came  down  from  Heaven:    "Up!  and  smite  them  hip  and 

thigh ! 
Go  strike,  strike  home,  and  boldly,  God  bids  thee  from  on  high! 
Their  arms  are  raised  'gainst  Virtue,  Marriage,  Honor,  Truth  and  Right ! 
Go,  strike!  for  God  is  with  thee,  — will  sustain  thee  with  His  might!  " 
And  I  girded  on  my  armor,  raised  the  banner  fair  to  see, 
And  I  strike  in  memory  of  her,  who  was  all  the  world  to  me. 

Up  from  your  sleep !  O  men  !  for  the  foe  is  at  the  gate; 
Wearing  the  garb  of  Love,  while  his  heart  is  full  of  Hate! 
Pois'nous  words  he  flings;  bale-fire  tips  his  darts; 
Venomous  songs  he  sings,  as  he  aims  them  at  the  hearts 


WOMAN)    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  387 

Of  wife  and  husband,  mother,  matron,  virgin  and  fair  youth,  — 
Lies  from  the  deeps  of  hell,  arrayed  in  seeming  truth ! 
Up,  from  your  sleep,  O  men!  on  mountain,  plain  and  sea, 
And  strike,  as  I  who  strike  for  her  who  was  all  the  world  to  me ! 

No  libertine  can  evoke  true  love,  but  onh'  mad  infatuation ! 
Nor  can  a  woman  of  loose  morals  inspire  a  sensible  man  with 
genuine  affection,  or  infatuate  any  one  but  a  stupid  ninny  or 
right-down  fool. 

The  power  of  evoking  genuine  love  is  one  that  none  but  a 
true  man  carries  with  him,  and  few  there  be  who  are  capable  of 
resisting  the  spell  —  true  love  is  so  very  scarce  nowadays ; 
true  women  scarcer  j'et,  and  genuine  men,  in  every  sense, 
scarcest  of  all !  For  modern  love  is  a  compound  hash  of  sigh, 
fie  !  hi,  hi !  my !  cry ,  die,  well  seasoned  with  lie !  And,  by  the 
waj-,  there's  altogether  too  much  of  the  latter  condiment  in 
use  in  love-matters.  But  a  worse  course  never  was  conceived. 
We  seldom  forget  the  truth  ;  hence  it  is  policy  to  tell  it  if  tell- 
able ;  if  not,  then  silence  is  next  best ;  for  if  one  lie  be  told,  it 
requires  three  more  to  bolster  it  up,  —  a  losing  game,  because 
one  is  mighty  apt  to  forget  both  the  original  lie  and  lose  the  run 
of  its  mates.     Truth  or  silence  is  the  right  policy. 

Before  the  social  sea  shall  be  rid  of  the  fierce  and  terribly 
devastating  tempests  which  now  rage  over  and  lash  it  into  vin- 
dictive and  desolating  fury,  it  is  essential  that  all  the  people  be- 
come consciously  aware  of  the  mighty  truth  set  forth  in  these 
pages,  that  everything  and  everybody  emits,  and  is  surrounded 
by  an  aural  sphere,  an  aroma  peculiar  and  unique,  an  aromal, 
magnetic,  electric,  and  ethereal  envelope,  which  envelope  is  for- 
ever charged  and  freighted  with  whatever  of  good  or  evil, 
pleasant  or  pernicious,  is  contained  —  even  in  minute,  as  well 
as  voluminous  degree  —  within  the  bod}-,  spirit,  or  inmost  soul 
of  the  object,  thing  or  individual  emitting  it.  Hence  acute 
sensitiveness,  although  fraught  with  certain  drawbacks,  is,  after 
all,  a  decided  blessing  and  advantage,  for  it  enables  one  to 
sense  and  in  a  greater  measure  know  the  real  nature  and  char- 
acter pf  whatever  the  sensitive  person  comes  in  contact  with,  no 
matter  how  good  an  actor  the  person  may  be ;  nor  how  cleverly 


388  woman;  love,  and  marriage. 

and  well  they  put  on  and  wear  a  mask  of  amiability,  virtue, 
goodness  or  nobilitj' ;  for  if  there  be  a  rotten  spot  anywhere 
about  their  outer,  inner  or  inmost  self,  that  spot  contributes  its 
effluvium  to  the  general  surrounding  personal  sphere,  and  is  a 
great  deal  easier  detected  than  would  be  the  same  amount  of 
positive  goodness,  on  the  principle  that  one  could  easily  sense 
the  odor  of  a  decayed  mouse  right  in  the  midst  of  the  finest 
garden  of  roses  that  ever  bloomed  in  Gulistan  !  No  human 
being  exists  but  who  to  some  extent  is  able  to  sense  these 
spheres,  and  to  draw  conclusions  more  or  less  correct  concern- 
ing the  characters  of  those  from  whom  they  are  evolved. 

These  auras  have  seven  distinct  and  strongly  marked,  nay, 
unmistakable  effects,  more  or  less  intense,  according  to  the  de- 
gree of  sensitiveness  attained,  or  the  nicety  and  perfection  of  its 
culture. 

These  seven  —  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  —  Stupefy,  Elec- 
trif}'-,  Magnetize,  Clarify,  Satisfy,  Poison,  or  Fascinate  ! 
Study  it ! 

Practice  makes  Perfect  ! 

At  this  point  it  is  well  to  teach  wives  the  lesson  of  forbear- 
ance ;  and  ask  them  not  to  sully  the  glass  of  their  own  lives, 
by  forgetting  that  husbands  are  not  always  in  perfect  mood  ; 
but  that  the  daily  strife  in  the  wide  world  sometimes  so  sours 
the  poor  fellows  as  to  make  them  forget  themselves  and  exhibit 
unamiable  traits  of  dogativeness  and  mule-itude,  both  of  which 
are  but  temporary  clouds  in  the  social  sky,  and  are  easily  wafted 
away  by  the  summery  breath  of  love  and  sympathy ! 

Turn  the  leaf.  Husbands  should  never  forget  that  when  God 
made  woman  she  was  as  near  perfect  as  circumstances  per- 
mitted, yet  nevertheless  was  far  from  being  finished,  as  God 
left  that  for  her  husband  to  do ;  wherefore  it  behoves  him  to 
remember  every  instant  of  his  life  that  the  wonderful  creature 
standing  by  his  side  is  wholly  unfathomable ;  that  it  is  part 
of  every  woman's  nature  to  —  at  times — be  outrageously 
cranky,  contradictory,  petulant,  impatient, .  offish,  queer, 
strange,  enigmatical ;  and  that  every  woman  under  the  face  of 
the  broad  heavens  exhibits  more  or  less  of  these  seemingly  dis- 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE.  389 

agreeable  traits,  not  of  choice,  but  by  force,  strong,  irresistible, 

—  of  her  nature,  structure  and  functions  in  the  grand  economy  ; 
that  they  are  more  frequent  and  pronounced  prior  to  her 
grand  climacteric  —  before  she  has  passed  the  tremendous 
ovarian  rubicon  than  afterward,  albeit  she  does  not  even  then 
leave  them  all  behind. 

Men  who  have  wives  should  not  fail  clearly  to  understand 
that  just  so  long  as  they  are  capable  of  adding  to  the  world's 
population,  just  so  long  are  they  liable  to  the  most  surprising 
and  really  unaccountable  freaks  of  temper,  action,  thought  and 
resolution  ;  and  the  most  delightful  wife  on  the  planet  is  not  to 
be  less  loved,  fondled  and  respected  because  once  in  a  while  she 
takes  supreme,  ineffable  and  exquisite  delight  in  being  con- 
trary, whimsical,  capricious  ;  —  revelling  in  all  sorts  of  oddities, 
queerities,  and  the  most  strange  conceits  and  moods.  Most 
men  are  aware  of  the  facts,  but  are  stone-blind,  unjustifiably 
blind,  to  the  mighty  underlying  causes ;  that  all  her  strange 
variations  from  the  masculine  ideal  of  the  proper  thing  results 
from  her  almost  direct  and  personal  associations  with  the  vast 
creative  and  formative  energies  of  the  broad  universe ;  that  the 
human  being  is  a  compound  of  all  known,  and  billions  of  un- 
known things,  essences,  principles  ;  and  that  woman  is  the  being 
who  collects  them  together  and  fashions  them  into  living, 
moving,  breathing  active  human  beings,  and  crystallizes  them 
into  distinct  types  of  imperishable,  never-dying  conscious  enti- 
ties !  She  is  the  incarnator,  while  God  is  the  Creator,  of  human 
souls.  Think  of  this,  O  husband  and  lover,  think  of  this  !  and 
that,  when  the  mighty,  yet  laughed-at  spell — just  think  of  it! 

—  is  drawing  near,  or  rests  upon  her  soul,  she  is  weak  and 
pitiable,  and  appeals  with  a  myriad  trumpet  tongues,  sounded  by 
the  arch-seraphim,  throughout  all  Nature,  and  echoed  back  from 
Everywhere  !  for  patience,  tender  treatment,  mercy  and  love  — 
love  right  out  of  the  furnaces  of  every  true  man's  soul  who 
treads  the  soil  of  God's  green  earth,  or  drinks  in  life  from  the 
boundless  iEth  in  which  the  worlds  are  floating ! 

When  God  charges  her  soul, —  either  with  the  preparatory 
message  —  which  he  does  thirteen  times  a  year !  —  or  when  she 


390  WOMAX,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

is  diligently  performing  it,  soul  is  at  work,  sir,  soul  is  working 
out  its  primal  mission  ;  and  heart  is  called  for  from  you  to  her, 
and  goodness  broad  as  ocean,  high  as  heaven,  and  deep  as  death, 
is  the  debt  you  owe  her,  and  must  pay,  and  if  you  do  not,  you 
are  less  than  half  a  man  !  She  is  the  direct  agent  and  minister 
of  God,  then,  if  at  no  other  time,  and  she  is  performing  a  labor 
transcendently  grand,  superlatively  holy,  and  so  divine  that  the 
arch-seraphim  look  on  with  wondering  awe  at  this  conscious- 
ization  of  a  death-proof  soul !  She  is  godly  then,  or  never, 
and  requires  godly  treatment  at  the  hands  of  all  who  breathe. 
"With  what  vehement  energy  would  every  true  man  kick  the 
scoundrel  who  would  then  underrate  or  abuse  a  woman,  —  who 
then  needs  and  should  have  all  the  dear  tenderness  that  swelled 
the  soul  of  the  compassionate  Christ,  for  in  her  mighty  work 
she  needs  and  she  deserves  it  all !  —  and  all  the  time,  because 
her  work  is  an  infinite  one,  and  what  she  is  building  will  last  to 
all  eternity  !  —  and  when  duration  ceases,  only  then  will  she  be 
able  to  write  "  Finis  "  to  her  work  ;  for  to  her  inner,  upper,  better, 
loftier,  holier  mission,  there  is  no  yesterday  or  to-morrow,  but 
only  the  present  To-da}^,  whose  sun  shall  know  no  setting ! 
Wherefore,  O  husband,  be  such,  in  very  truth  and  deed  ;  and 
give  to  her  now  what  her  soul  yearns  for  —  love  and  tenderness  — 
that  her  work  may  be  well  done,  and  not  botched  as  is  the  cus- 
tom of  marriage-land  in  the  present  era !  See  to  it  that  you 
repress  the  inopportune  tides  of  anger,  passion  and  neglect ;  but 
instead  bravely  sacrifice  3-ourself  and  strive  to  kindle  up  aer 
soul's  best  warmth  and  light,  and  by  and  by  j'ou  will  see  such 
fruitage !  drink  in  sitch  joy !  reap  such  kisses  from  such  lips ! 
and  the  child  !  ah,  the  child  !  —  the  perfection  of  physical  beauty 
and  constitution,  and  the  destined  wielder  of  such  mental  power 
as  shall  make  the  world  stand  still  and  wonder !  Great 
Heaven  !  "What  rewards  will  not  come  to  him  who  does  his 
duty,  and  so  well  deserves  them  ! 

Elsewhere  in  this  series  of  books  it  has  been  said  that  the 
majority  of  wedded  couples  live  wholly  on  the  surface,  and 
entirely   outside   of   each    other's    affections,   so   far    as   recti 


WOMAN,    LOVE,   AND  MARRIAGE.  391 

heart,  and  will,  and  deeper  soul  are  concerned ;  which,  of 
course,  is  wrong,  and  wholly  foreign  to  the  true  purpose  and 
intent  of  the  mystic  union.  It  has  also  been  said  that  each 
human  being,  no  matter  whether  barbaric  —  as  most  of  us  are  ! 
—  or  civilized  —  as  but  few  of  us  can  really  claim,  in  all 
respects,  to  be !  —  is  a  vast,  intricate,  involute,  yet  simply, 
but  absolutely  perfect  telegraphic  system,  in  each  self  con- 
sidered, and  also  with  reference  to  the  immediate  associates, 
and,  in  the  final  analysis,  every  one  else,  dead  or  alive,  high  or 
low,  in  the  habitable  sections  of  the  entire  universe.  There 
are  principal  offices  at  every  essential  point  in  the  human 
economy,  —  as  finger-tips,  lips,  eyes,  —  everywhere  that  nerves 
meet,  and  muscles,  veins,  and  arteries  deflect  and  part  com- 
pany !  In  fact  there  are  termini  and  distributive  offices  located 
where  we  least  suspect ;  and  so  perfectly  arranged  and  ordered, 
that  whatever  transpires  in  any  department  of  the  vast  domain 
of  Body,  Mind,  Spirit  or  Soul,  news  of  the  fact  and  event  is 
forthwith  transmitted  to  every  other  section  and  point  of  the 
vast  machine. 

Proof  is  seen  that  the  news  that  a  mother  saw  a  toad,  or  that 
a  father  had  six  toes  or  fingers,  has  been  telegraphed  to  and 
recorded  on  the  bodies  of  unborn  babies  ;  and  all  the  vices  and 
some  of  the  virtues  of  both  parents  have  been  and  always  will 
be  recorded  in  the  same  way,  by  the  same  instrumentality,  on 
the  same  plastic  substance  of  people  who  are  not  yet,  but  are 
yet  to  be ! 

Now  the  true  divine  intent  of  marriage  was,  is,  and  ever  will 
be,  that  every  wire  of  one  system  should  connect  with  every 
wire  of  the  other.  But  alas,  alack !  and  well-a-day  !  how  very 
far  short  of  so  complete  a  union  we  all  fall  in  these  dismal 
ages ! 

Our  nerves  are  the  wires  ;  our  brains  are  the  chief  offices  ;  our 
lungs,  stomachs,  and  other  viscera  are  the  batteries ;  our  un- 
seen souls  are  the  overseeing  presidents ;  all  humanity  are  the 
stockholders  and  the  company,  whose  interests  are  vested  in 
the  joint  concern.  The  nerve-bundles,  or  ganglia,  are  the 
relays,  retorts  and  magazines,  where  are  stored  up,  ready  for 


392  WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE. 

use,  the  refined  and  subtle  auras,  magnetisms,  and  electric 
fluids,  whose  functions  are  not  merely  the  distribution  of  news, 
but  of  energies,  powers,  forces,  throughout  the  almost  infinite 
continent  of  the  woman  and  the  man !  The  chief  operator  — 
of  whose  action  we  are  never  apprised,  save  when  its  results 
are  tangible  —  the  mysterious  and  unknown  soul !  —  sits  quietly 
on  its  throne  in  the  brain,  and  sees  that  each  operator  flashes 
all  news,  good  or  bad,  of  whatever  is  going  on  at  head-quarters, 
or  the  chief  cities  of  the  great  republic;  Brain  cit}r,  Passion- 
town,  Angerville,  Justopolis,  Holyburg,  Religionton,  Mor- 
alania,  and  all  the  rest.  But  that  is  not  all ;  for  he  oversees 
the  distribution  of  energies,  potencies,  and  powers  likewise, 
and  sees  that  the  demands  of  Thinkington,  Sexburg,  or  Villain- 
ville,  receive  their  due  supplies  —  albeit  the  two  last,  in  his 
judgment,  and  the  writer's,  get  a  great  deal  more  than  their 
fair  and  honest  share ;  while  Manburg  and  "Womanville,  with 
their  outlying  villages,  are  robbed  by  the  odious  monopolists 
mentioned,  and  their  fair  share  of  supplies  cut  off,  that  the 
States  of  Badness  and  Scoundrelton  may  thrive  apace.  Yet 
nevertheless,  this  untiring  superintendent  impartially  fills  his 
office,  and  orders  both  messages  and  supplies  to  be  sent  to  all 
parts  of  the  grand  economy ;  to  the  valleys  and  the  lakes,  the 
jungles  and  the  brakes ;  the  fields,  fens,  and  moors,  cities, 
towns,  and  hamlets ;  through  the  vast  oceans ;  over  the 
prairies  and  across  the  continents,  not  only  of  the  human  body, 
but  its  inlining  spirit,  immortal  realm,  soul !  No  matter  what 
or  where  sent  it  must  be,  and  sent  it  is —  good  or  evil,  right  or 
wrong  ;  and  the  facts  are  recorded  whatever  they  be,  in  a  kind 
of  writing  that  will  not  fade  out  or  be  washed  away,  upon 
tablets  solid  as  the  eternal  hills,  and  enduring  as  time  itself! 

A  man  comes  home  from  his  daily  fight  with  the  world, — 
employers,  bankers,  lawyers,  liars,  newspaper  editors,  report- 
ers, book-sellers,  author-starvers,  etc.,  etc., —  and  he  hunts 
up  his  wife,  finding  her  in  the  back  kitchen  scolding  like  mad 
over  her  troubles  —  and  he  kisses  her  as  a  husband  ought,  but 
a  great  many  don't,  after  the  sometimes  eternal  going  down 
of  the  honeymoon !     Well,  if  he  is  a  politic  man,  perhaps  that 


woman;  love,  axd  marriage.  393 

kiss  is  not  spontaneous,  but  like  as  not  is  made  to  order,  and  he 
fancies  it  takes  her  in  completely !  Poor  fool !  he  never  made 
a  greater  blunder  in  his  life,  for  you  might  as  well  expect  to  get 
back  lent  money,  or  preserve  the  esteem  and  friendship  of  those 
who  got  it  of  you, —  an  utter  impossibility,  —  as  to  fool  a 
woman  with  a  counterfeit  kiss  !  for  just  as  sure  as  he  tries  it  on, 
just  so  sure  is  she  absolutely  certain  to  instantly  find  it  out. 
Because  a  kiss  is  a  vehicle  of  soul,  and  if  the  soul  isn't  there  to 
supply  the  yearning  it  was  intended  to,  it  is  just  like  kicking 
with  all  j'our  might  at  empt}'  air,  striking  at  nothing,  or  getting 
a  good  drink  out  of  pictured  champagne, —  things  that  can't  be 
did  !  If  the  kiss  be  a  cool,  matter-of-fact  affair,  there's  no  juice 
in  it,  ne'er  a  "  balmy  breath  "  on  her  part,  but  ten  to  one  there  is 
on  his  —  cheap  balm  at  that !  fifteen  cents  a  glass,  and  warranted 
to  mix  up  a  man's  understanding  in  twenty  minutes  so  effect- 
ually that  the  skein-untangling  sisters  would  give  it  up  as  a  bad 
job  in  very  short  order ! 

Now  some  kisses  are  sonorous,—  the  kind  alluded  to  are  par- 
ticularly so, —  but  scarcely  does  the  sound  of  such  a  one  break 
upon  the  still  air,  than  the  telegraph  from  his  lips  records  the 
word  "  humbug"  on  the  tablets  of  her  soul !  She  is  instantly  and 
perfectly  aware  of  the  fact,  even  if,  as  is  likely,  she  keeps  mum 
about  it  and  says  nothing ;  while  just  as  like  as  not,  again,  she 
smiles  a  smile  within  herself,  as  she  realizes  her  abundant  abil- 
ity, and  willingness,  and  knowledge  of  where  to  obtain  the  genu- 
ine article  ;  or  if  not  so  far  gone  as  that,  then  such  a  kiss  sug- 
gests the  necessity  of  so  doing  at  the  very  first  convenient 
opportunity ;  and  if  there  is  one  thing  above  another  tbat  a  dis- 
contented woman  knows  how  to  make,  it  is  an  opportunity ! 

Your  short,  sharp,  crisp,  mercantile,  off-handish  lip-saluta- 
tion is  another  desecration  of  the  contract, —  a  complete  abomi- 
nation in  any  household  on  the  earth  —  except  when  given  to  visit- 
ing country  cousins,  whom  you  want  to  freeze,  but  are  obliged 
to  treat  civilly,  welcome  to  your  board,  and  be  bored  by  in  spite 
of  yourself,  and  because  such  people  never  take  a  hint,  or  a  new 
departure,  and  who,  as  a  very  general  thing,  are  oblivious  of 
the  fact  that  their  room  is  far  preferable  to  their  company. 


394  WOMAN,    LOVE)    AND   MARRIAGE. 

"Writing  on  this  veiy  point  in  a  prior  volume,  entitled  "  The 
Disembodiment  of  Man,"  the  author  hereof  had  occasion  to  say, 
and  here  repeats,  quoting  from  himself,  that :  "  When  warm 
lips  meet  warm  lips,  rendered  odorous  by  balmy  breaths,  charged 
with  deep  desire,  then  there  is  let  forth  a  whole  battery  of  light- 
ning, that  wakes  up  the  slumbering  soul,  closes  all  other  doors, 
and  brings  the  king  down  from  his  couch,  not  only  to  see  what's 
going  on,  but  to  mingle  in  the  scene.  Messages  are  despatched 
to  all  nooks  and  corners  of  the  physical  continent,  and  all  the 
bodily  powers  are  invoked  to  the  congress  of  sex.  Then  the 
spiritual  and  chest  organs  of  either  and  both  tingle  again,  and 
all  things  but  love  are  unheeded  and  forgotten ;  for  even  death, 
disgrace,  or  danger  are  laughed  at  in  utter  and  contemptuous 
scorn.  But  when  two  fond  hearts  and  loving  meet  upon  the 
lips ;  when  that  love  is  pure,  deep,  sincere,  and  right  straight 
from  the  soul ;  when  it  is  natural,  full  to  the  brim,  based  on 
mutual  fitness,  then,  oh,  then!  the  soul,  spirit,  body, —  all  de- 
sire,—  ai^e  instantaneously  kindled  up  into  a  blaze,  not  consum- 
ing, but  creating  —  with,  to,  and  in  a  fervid,  fiery,  non-exhaust- 
ing glow,  thrilling,  filling,  plunging  into  a  bath  of  exquisite  de- 
light,—  a  delicious,  delirious,  soft,  yet  almost  killing  rapture  ; 
a  lavement  in  a  sea  of  glory,  of  supreme  bliss  ;  so  universal,  so 
deep,  so  acute,  so  intense,  full,  sweet,  biting,  as  to  be  inexpres- 
sible by  tongue  or  pen  ;  compared  to  which  all  other  joj^s  are 
tasteless,  dull,  and  insipid,  yet  wholly  unknown  and  unattaina- 
ble to  all  who  do  not  fully,  purely,  centrally  and  wholly,  yet 
holily  love  each  other.  Mere  fitful,  physical,  blood,  electrical, 
and  magnetic  lovers  realize  nothing  of  all  this,  because  they 
love  not  fully,  truly  !  In  many  cases  their  wilful  waste  makes 
woeful  want.  They  must  die  and  live  again  before  they  get  the 
first  taste,  or  understand  love's  primary  lessons  ;  but  up  there, 
and  there  only,  can  its  deep  mysteries  be  fully  known,  its  keener 
j'03's  be  felt ! 

Human  love  is  made  sport  of  in  these  dismal  ages.  It  is 
mainly  regarded  as  animal ;  but  that  is  only  one  of  its  phases. 
The  thing  itself  is  really  divine ;  it  can  only  thrive  in  purity, 
and  that  of  course  is  holy.     To  sum  up  then,  —  the  meaning 


TrOJ/^V,   LOVE,    AND  MARRIAGE.  395 

of  hand-shaking,  the  kiss,  and  other  unions,  is  the  realization  of 
contact.     Bearing  this  in  mind  let  us  now  proceed. 

True  marital  or  conjugal  love  strengthens ;  but  mere  pas- 
sional or  seortatory  love  is  false,  consuming,  dangerous,  waste- 
ful ;  for  it  never  is  appeased,  is  always  longing,  easily  dies ; 
and  it  entirely,  usually,  both  maddens  and  destroys. 

True  love  is  pure  and  sweet  desire, 
But  passion  —  lust —  consuming  fire  ! 

In  a  love  like  this  last,  —  either  in  or  out  of  wedlock,  —  not 
marriage,  for  marriage  is  never  desecrated,  —  all  the  fire  is  on 
the  surface,  in  the  blood ;  and  when  it  goes  out  just  so  much 
life  goes  with  it ;  souls  repel,  while  bodies  endure  each  other ; 
beautiful  women  drop  by  thousands  into  premature  graves, 
while  men  spit  themselves  away  in  tobacco,  fume  away  in 
smoke,  or  drown  themselves  in  fiery  baths  of  disguised  alcohol. 
Real  love  is  a  divine  and  sacred  thing ;  sex,  and  sex  alone,  is 
the  field  and  means  of  its  divinest  operations.  I  do  not  merely 
a»d  only  state  the  ph}'siological  fact,  but  the  mental,  spiritual, 
and  physical  ones  as  well ;  for  the  mere  physics  of  it  is  its 
least  part  and  charm  ;  which  latter  reside,  and  are  sought  for, 
in  the  spiritual  and  metaphysical  demesne  of  the  great  human 
estate.  All  are  not  women  who  wear  the  human  shape,  nor 
men  that  look  like  the  homos.  The  one's  masculinity  has  to  be 
softened  down,  the  other's  femininity  toned  up  to  proper  points, — 
not  here,  but  in  the  great  hereafter.  Let  this  revelation  never 
be  forgotten. 

To  a  greater  or  less  degree,  spirits  touch  when  hands  are 
shaken  ;  but  in  most  cases  touch  merely.  In  the  ordinary  kiss 
of  friendship,  a  little  more  of  the  two  surfaces  come  in  contact ; 
in  common  marriage,  if  positive  spiritual  repulsion  on  her  part 
does  not  exist,  spirits  come,  at  times,  a  little  closer  ;  but  souls 
themselves  not  only  touch,  but  actually  fuse  and  interblend,  in 
the  high,  hoi}-,  and  mystical  conjugations  of  real  marriage ; 
because  love  lies  at  the  basis  of  our  human  nature,  procreation 
of  the  species  being  its  lowest  office,  procreation  of  ineffable 


306  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE. 

forms  of  beauty  and  divine  sensation  one  of  the  highest.  All 
animals,  and  man  too,  outgrow  parental  affection  in  time ;  the 
instinct  ceases  with  the  self-helping  stage  of  growth  in  the 
young.     In  man  it  merges  into  all-embracing  fraternal  love. 

So  much  for  the  quotation  from  that  book.     And  yet  the  half 
of  the  rapturous  story  has  not  been,  is  not,  and  never  will  be, 
wholly,  fully  told  ;  because  some  things  are  inexpressible,  un- 
utterable, and  the  fulness  of  love  is  one  of  them !     It  is  the 
dream  which  even  the  arch-seraphim  of  the  upper  skies  hope  to 
realize,  at  some  far-off  period  of  their  grand  career. 
Writer  of  this  :  What  do  you  think?" 
I  think  there's  any  amount  of  goodness  : . 
I  think  there's  any  amount  of  sweetness  : 
In  any  wife : 
In  any  husband : 
If  you  only  know  enough  to  bring  it  out ! 

If  he  or  she  is  false,  it  is  better  for  either  not  to  know  it ; 
and  it  won't  pay  to  try  to  fiud  out.  If  it  is  false,  you  are 
wretched  and  peace  and  trust  are  gone.  If  it  is  true,  3*011  lose 
the  benefit  of  the  doubt,  and  are  still  more  wretched ;  on  the 
whole,  it  is  Better  not  to  Know  ! 

"  He  comes  too  near  who  comes  to  be  denied  ;  "  and  yet  few 
men  dare  to  approach  an}*  woman,  unless  she  herself  hangs  out 
the  sign  saying,  "  There's  not  much  trouble  here !  not  much 
trouble  here ! " 

She  goes  too  far,  who  goes  to  tempt  a  man.  And  if  trouble 
comes,  herself  is  most  blamable  ! 

A  woman's  nature  cringes,  sours,  blisters : 

A  man's  nature  withers,  decaj-s,  fanaticizes : 

If  she : 

If  he: 

Isn't  mated  by  the  other ;  for 

He: 

She: 

Needs  the  presence  of  the  other  sex,  as  birds  need  air  to  sing 
in. 

When  a  loving  couple  meet  reverses  they  are  far  better  able 


WOMAN,   LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  397 

to  bear  them  bravely,  and  share  to  the  heart's  core,  each  other's 
pain  and  cai'e,  and  deep  affliction  in  whatever  guise  it  comes, 
than  are  a  pair  who  either  hate  or  merely  endure  each  other,  for 
want  of  more  congenial  employment.  In  the  days  of  poverty 
and  misfortune  the  value  of  real  friendship  is  seen,  and  so  is  the 
institution  of  marriage  ;  for  wifehood  and  husbandage  at  such  a 
time  rises  out  of  the  dust  and  mire  of  unholy  uses  and  mean- 
ings, and  asserts  inself  as  a  God-founded  Institution,  —  the 
thrice  holy  and  blessed  thing  against  which  fools  and  brainless 
radicals  raise  their  impious  heads,  and  which  they  assail  with 
cracked  voices,  from  cracked  lungs,  inspired  by  cracked  brains, 
addled  by  quack  doctrines.  Doubtless  there  are  those  who  read 
these  lines  who  will  suppose  the  shafts  herein  hurled  are  aimed 
at  a  special  religious  sect,  as  for  instance  the  Spiritualists  or 
Davisites.  Well,  they  are  both  right  and  wrong.  Whatever 
Davisite  or  Spiritualist,  or  member  of  any  other  sect  or  creed, 
lay  their  hands  against  Social  Order,  seek  to  abrogate  and 
abolish  marriage,  give  a  free  scope  to  unjust  divorce  laws,  re- 
solve God  into  a  gas,  and  human  honor  into  impulse,  and  teach 
mankind  to  ignore  everything  but  appetite,  then  those  are  the 
very  persons  struck  at  in  these  pages,  and  they  who  think  such 
are  meant  are  capital  guessers  at  truth.  But  when  it  may  be 
said  that  the  blows  are  aimed  at  people  who  believe  or  disbelieve 
in  certain  doctrines  of  immortality,  because  they  so  believe  or 
disbelieve,  then  such  persons  thus  averring  labor  under  a  great 
mistake,  for  no  such  intent  animated  the  writer  from  first  to 
last.  But  the  blows  are  intended  to  fall  on  whoever  is  an  un- 
reasoning zealot  for  new  and  pernicious  social  doctrines.  Your 
out-and-out  radical  who  says  of  marriage,  and  saj's  truly  of  iso- 
lated cases  —  by  which  no  system  or  principle  can  be  fairly 
judged  —  that  marriage  is  useless,  bad  ;  and  avers  that  judging 
the  institutions  by  the  abuses  to  which  it  is  subjected,  that  peo- 
ple are  unhappy  in  it,  that  happiness  was  ordained  for  human 
kind,  and  that  whatever  obstructs  or  prevents  it  ought  to  be 
abolished;  the  sophism  is  a  clever  and  a  very  dangerous  one 
to  weak  minds ;  but  is  too  contemptible  to  merit  serious 
refutal.    In  the  first  place,  the  fault  is  in  the  people,  not  the 


398  WOWANy   LOVB%  AND  MARRIAGE. 

institution.  In  the  second,' it  is  the  only  safeguard  society  ever 
had  or  can  have.  Third,  it  is  the  only  firm  basis  of  civilization, 
sound  morals,  religion.  Fourth,  it  is  the  only  incentive  to 
intense,  deep,  and  continued  human  effort  to  achieve.  Fifth,  it 
promotes  and  fosters  science,  art,  literature.  Sixth,  it  enlarges 
the  scope  of  the  human  faculties,  and  affords  a  boundless  field 
for  their  development  and  display  ;  and  seventh,  it  alone  satisfies 
the  longings  of  the  human  heart,  and  inspires  charity,  goodness, 
and  all  the  human  virtues. 

Radicalism  denies  all  this,  and  tells  a  man  that  he  has  a 
heaven-born  right  to  betray  his  friend,  abuse  hospitality,  sow  dis- 
cord in  families,  affinitize  his  friend's  wife  and  daughters,  or  any 
one's  wife  and  daughters  to  harlotrj"  and  ruin  —  a  divine  right 
they  call  this  !  It  tells  a  wandering  courtesan  that  between  her 
Sunday  lectures  —  whefein  she  preaches  celestial  purity  —  she 
may  ogle  the  man  at  whose  house  she  is  stopping,  and  lure  the 
poor  fool  from  allegiance  to  his  wife,  and  corrupt  his  soul, 
despoil  his  morals,  poison  his  blood,  engender  hatred  toward 
his  family,  unsettle  nis  mind,  destroy  the  peace  of  her  entertain- 
ers forever  and  ever,  and  all  by  the  grace  of  God  —  and  her 
own  infernal  blandishments  !  All  these  things  are  done.  Time 
was  when  the  writer  was  whirled  for  a  space  along  the  dread- 
ful current,  believed  it  flowed  to  Heaven,  but  found  it  skirted 
the  fiery  shores  of  Hell !  and  this  is  why  he  in  this  book  tells 
the  story  of  his  life's  grief,  and  cries  aloud  to  all,  Hold !  Ruin 
and  Radicalism  are  convertible  terms  !  "  Let  the  galled  jades 
wince"  again!  They  tear  clown,  but  what  do  they  build  up? 
What  give  us  instead  of  our  heritage?  Listen!  For  virtuous 
and  modest  women,  they  give  us  cheek  and  brazen  boldness  ; 
for  Christian  morality,  they  give  us  pigistical  obscenity ;  for 
the  Bible,  they  give  us  —  nothing!  for  God,  they  give  us  elec- 
tricity ;  for  conscience,  they  give  us  leather  ;  for  men,  they  give 
us  libertines  ;  for  women,  brawling  viragos  ;  for  virtue,  harlot- 
age  ;  for  marriage,  concubinage;  for  religion,  sacrilege;  for 
goodness,  blank  atheism  ;  and  for  the  home  !  sweet  home  !  even 
with  all  its  drawbacks,  they  offer  us  communal  dwellings,  where 
no  woman  can  know  the  father  of  her  own  child,  or  a  man  may  be 


WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND   MARRIAGE.  399 

sure  of  his  sou.  Darwin  tells  us  our  foreparents  were  ring- 
tailed  monkeys,  or  something  akin  thereto.  It  certainly  seems 
true  of  the  Radical  horde,  for  the  ears  are  extensive  and  visible 
though  the  os  cocyx  may  be  safely  coiled  away.  Radicals 
never  bathe  in  public. 

Love  can  never  thrive  outside  of  marriage.  When  a  man 
and  his  mistress  run  foul  of  a  rock  and  are  stranded,  there's  no 
tie  to  hold  them  together.  They  part  company,  courage,  and 
confidence  just  as  soon  as  the  tempest  begins  to  blow  in  right- 
down  earnest,  —  he  to  try  his  luck  elsewhere  ;  she  to  fiud  another 
cully  —  or  the  bottom  of  some  river.  But  a  loving  married 
pair,  under  like  circumstance,  keep  all  the  above  three  C's  ; 
promptly  recover  their  equipoise  ;  look  matters  squarely  in  the 
face ;  see  what's  before  them;  buckle  to  the  task,  and  grow 
strong  and  prosperous  again ;  because,  refined  by  misfortune, 
not  hardened  by  despair,  as  were  the  case,  did  nothing  stronger 
than  mere  duty  and  dependence  underlie  their  effort.  Such  a 
pair  are  seldom  resigned  to  fate  ;  but,  rolling  up  the  sleeves  of 
pluck  and  purpose,  forthwith  go  in,  not  to  lose,  but  win  life's 
battle. 

When  friendships,  so-called,  drop  off  one  by  one,  as  they  are 
sure  to  when  lowering,  leaden-hued  clouds  hang  depressingly 
low  in  their  life's  sky,  the  loving  couple  cling  closer  to  each 
other.  Their  little  boy  willingly  goes  without  his  winter  sled- 
or  summer  bat  and  ball ;  the  little  girl  dispenses  with  a  waxen 
doll,  and  rigs  up,  to  her  notion,  a  far  nicer  one  with  sundiy 
odds  and  ends  from  the  rag-bag,  which,  when  she  pla}-s  house, 
and  invites  her  brother  to  tea,  said  brother  pats  lovingly  on  its 
ragged  head,  and  pronounces  it  not  only  a  belle  of  a  doll,  but 
"  a  bully  old  gal !  "  in  the  bargain,  as  the  twain  sip  nectar, 
made  of  water  and  tafiy,  from  broken  cups,  and  enjoy  a  ban- 
quet fit  for  immortal  gods  ! 

The  wife,  bless  her  sweet,  loving  heart !  rather  relishes  the 
joke  of  being  "  poor  as  Job's  turkey,"  or  that  boily  gentle- 
man's "  off  ox,"  and  actually  laughs  all  over  her  glorious  face 
at  "  the  perfectly  ridiculous  absurdity  of  a  new  dress,  when  the 
old  one  can  be  ripped  apart,  furbished  up,  turned,    and  be  a 


400  WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND  MAItRIAGE. 

great  deal  better  than  new !  As  for  the  husband,  he  starts  out 
to  his  work  in  early  morn,  with  glowing  face,  bright  eye  and 
long  strides  —  plump  and  square  past  all  ale-hells  and  lager- 
dens  along  his  route,  whistling  sotto  voce,  as  he  goes,  a  stave 
from  an  old  opera,  to  the  effect  that  "  'Tis  better  to  laugh  than 
be  cry-ing  !  mentally  garnished  with  sundry  "  You  bets  !  "  At 
night,  when  he's  paid  off,  and  by  his  comrades  invited  to  "  stand 
treat,"  he  thinks  of  home,  and  —  "  Can't  see  it ! "  with  another 
"  You  bet!"  and  then  he  falls  into  a  reverie  somewhat  after  this 
style:  Only  just  think!  —  of  the  difference  between  about 
fourteen  tons  of  right  up  and  down  home  love  running  around 
loose,  up  at  the  house  —  all  a-waiting  for  this  individual  to  swim 
in,  about  forty  minutes  from  now;  regular  sweet  waters  of 
delight ;  just  the  thing  for  a  tired  man  —  glory  halle-lu-jah-ram  ! 
and  I'm  the  individual  —  Oh,  how  is  that  for  high  I  —  and  swilling 
down  three  pints  of  bitter  beer  !  Bitter  Beer  !  "  and  before  the 
reverie  is  over,  two  young  ones  are  tugging  away  at  his  coat, 
and  a  delicious  pair  of  lips  are  sending  several  telegrams  to  his 
soul,  right  straight  from  Heart-town  !  Glory  to  God  !  Peace 
and  good-will  to  the  wedded !  and  confusion  to  Radicalism 
everywhere  !     Vivat !  and  Amen ! 

Misfortunes,  when  they  come  to  hearts  that  really  love, 
strengthen  bone,  muscle,  nerve,  courage,  body,  soul,  resolution 
and  endurance ;  and  instead  of  depressing,  fill  the  heart  with 
new  determination,  fortitude,  and  manfulness  to  breast  the 
storm,  and  meet  the  hydra  Want,  and  conquer  him  half-way. 
True  love's  baptism  may  be  of  fire,  but  then  what  do  we  amount 
to  till  we  have  been  ordealed  almost  to  the  bitter  death  ?  How 
can  we  develop  into  true  human  grandeur,  save  through  antag- 
onism? How  can  we  realize  our  great  virtues  till  carping 
hypocrites  have  laid  bare  to  the  world's  eyes  and  our  own  our 
small  vices  and  besetting  sius?  The  sense  of  greatness  makes 
us  great,  the  flush  of  goodness  makes  us  good  ;  but  how  can 
we  find  that  out  till  we  have  been  tabooed,  neglected,  carped  at, 
frowned  down,  laughed  over,  spit  at,  lied  about  by  empty- 
headed  ninnies,  and  jealous,  envious,  fractional  women  and 
fragmentary  men?     Or  how  can  we  measure  the  amount  of  real 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  401 

gold  God  has  planted  deep  within  us,  until  want,  scandal,  sor- 
row, bitter  words,  and  sharp  neglect  has  set  us  mining,  often- 
times very  deeply,  and  through  a  great  strata  of  hard-pan,  to 
find  the  glittering,  shining  ore?  How  can  we  reach  the  golden 
mean  of  truth  unless  we  have  courage  to  breast  the  double 
storm  of  vindictive,  unreasonable  conservatism  behind  us,  and 
the  sharp  assault  of  bombattieal  radicalism,  not  only  in  front, 
but  all  around  us?  How  can  we  be  true  men  and  women, 
unless  we  go  to  God  for  courage  to  fling  down  and  trample  on 
the  lie  we  accepted  as  Divine  truth  awhile  back ;  confess  to  our 
own  soul,  and  God,  its  only  Master,  that  we  were  misinformed, 
misled  and  mistaken ;  and  that  we  dare  to  right-about-face,  and 
strangle  the  dressed-up  lie  we  once  blindly  helped  nurse  as 
God's  own  truth  ;  nor  found  out  our  mistake  till  the  accursed 
thing,  full  of  life  from  our  own  warm  hands,  reared  its  dam- 
nable head,  and,  hissing  its  infernal  venom  right  into  our  very 
eyes,  leaps  to  our  throats,  or  to  strike  us  to  the  heart?  Strike 
deeply,  too,  —  strike  at  wife,  husband,  child,  home,  faith,  relig- 
ion, peace,  name,  fame,  hope  !  Strike  at  everything  good,  pure 
and  holy,  in  its  devilish  malignity, — this  radical  snake  of  the 
pit,  that  dares  to  call  itself  the  S3rmbol  of  love  and  wisdom  and 
Heaven,  while  armed  and  fanged  with  the  deep  malevolence  of 
hell ! 

The  man  or  woman  beneath  whose  surface  the  real  shining 
metal  lies,  must  run  the  gauntlet  or  never  really  be.  If  the 
true  stuff  is  in  them,  they  need  have  no  fear  of  the  ultimate  re- 
sult and  victory,  so  long  as  God  lives  and  reigns  Lord  Supreme. 
But  the  courage  is  very  papery  which  has  not  God  for  its  founda- 
tion. Then  it  is  more  solid  than  a  rock,  and  the  ordeals  they 
pass  through  but  ennerve  true  men  and  women ;  while  trials 
to  the  unloved  and  unloving  lift  the  veil  from  coward  hearts, 
and  they  quail,  and  they  tremble,  and  they  quake  with  ungodly 
fear  and  are  miserable  ! 

"  Up  and  at  it  again  !  "  is  the  blazon  on  the  banners  of  the 
brave  and  of  the  true,  whenever  and  wherever  love  is  the  inspire 
tion.  But  "rope,  razor,  revolver,  poison,  or  the  water,"  is  the 
very  first  suggestion  brought  by  misfortune  to  the  craven  souls 


402  WOMAN,    LOVE,    AND    MARRIAGE. 

of  such  as  have  no  love  given  or  received;  no  faith  in  God  or 
goodness,  no  spontaneity  of  soul  —  no  soul  at  all!  and  there- 
fore no  mental  stamina,  or  moral  backbone  ! 

Gloom  and  doubt,  despair  and  fear,  seldom  long  hold  sway 
over  such  as  have  faith,  or  where  true  love  has  a  firm  foothold. 
Where  such  is  the  case,  merry,  joyous,  jocund  laughter  far  more 
frequently  gushes  forth  in  sweet,  delicious  ripples  from  musical 
throat  of  blooming  wife,  echoed  back  in  heartsome  gurgles  from 
deep  bass  chest  of  contented  rent-payer ;  while  her  eyes  twinkle 
again,  and  flash  out  whole  streams  of  irrepressible  fun,  away  up 
from  her  sugar-freighted  heart.  Watch  her  now,  as  she  stands 
there  by  the  stove  !  Did  you  ever !  Just  see  how  red  she  is  in 
the  face  as  she  nearly  bursts  with  laughing,  giggling,  wriggling 
ha  !  ha  !  ha's  !  at  the  absurd  idea  of  "  nothing  but  griddle-cakes 
and  molasses  for  dinner  "  !  And,  "  By  jove !  it  is  funny,"  roars 
the  husband,  as  he  catches  the  mighty  nice  infection ;  which, 
spreading,  lays  its  mouth-opening  spell  upon  the  little  ones,  who 
join  the  cachinatory  chorus  with  a  "  hi !  hi !  hi !  "  the  "  tick- 
ledest"  jovial  set  of  juveniles  you  ever  laid  eyes  on,  as  the 
brilliant  fact  of  such  a  dinner  flashes  funnily  athwart  their 
blessed  little  understandings.  And  yet  such  a  love-seasoned 
meal  is  a  far  richer  feast  than  Roman  Lucullus  —  whom  no  one 
loved,  who  loved  no  one  —  ever  sat  down  to,  and  is  onfy 
equalled  in  modern  days  by  "  the  happiest  man  alive,"  —  the 
jolly  minstrel,  whom  report  says  —  bless  his  funny  heart !  —  sits 
down  to  a  better  table  than  any  man  of  modern  days,  for  his 
food  equals  the  Roman's,  who  had  no  love  at  all,  while  as  for 
love  —  he  has  a  good  deal  more  than  his  fair  share ! 

True  connubial  love  is  a  series  of  ever-rising  crescendos  of 
immortal  music,  struck  from  the  harp  of  the  human  soul  by  the 
fingers  of  the  peerless  Lord  of  the  Seraphim  ;  it  awakens  sub- 
limest  melody,  cathedral-like  and  grand,  in  every  vault  and 
chamber  of  the  immortal  edifice  of  the  human  soul :  and  when 
it  sounds  out  full  and  clear,  all  unholy  thoughts  arid  things  may 
have  been,  but  are  not,  and  it  gives  us  here  on  earth  a  foretaste 
of  that  intenser,  broader,  deeper,  and   more  mystical  rapture, 


WOMAN,   LOVE,   AND   MARRIAGE.  403 

which  true  seers  tell,  and  we  believe,  awaits  all  who  love  much 
when  translated  beyond  the  darksome  stream  called  Death ;  a 
subliraer  rapture  for  which  suffering  on  earth  fits  and  attunes 
eternal  souls ! 

And  the  melody  outringing  from  my  soul 

Sweeps  away  my  utter  pain  as  it  falls  like  summer  rain, 

And  I  cry,  Oh,  God  is  great,  thus  to  bless  my  low  estate, 

And  give  to  me  a  blessing  denied  to  rich  and  great ! 

And  my  glamour  fades  away,  as  I  bend  my  knee  to  pray, 

And  I  feel  the  warming  vigor  of  His  smile's  benignant  ray ; 

And  in  my  darkest  hour,  when  the  clouds  descend  and  lower, 

I  realize  that  love  is  the  sole  redeeming  power; 

And  I  laugh  at  earthly  hate,  knowing  Good  is  only  great, 

And  at  end  of  this  dark  fate  we  shall  know  a  better  state. 

For  the  melody  outringing  is  the  song  the  blest  are  singing, 

And  the  gospel  of  pure  love  are  the  blessed  seraphs  bringing 

Adown  the  dark  abysm,  their  loving  way  are  winging. 

Hear  the  melodies  unfold,  and  the  euphonies  outroll 

The  music  of  redemption  unto  every  weary  soul ! 

Oh,  it  soothes  my  soul's  deep  pain :  grief  will  never  come  again, 

For  love's  blessings  fall  upon  us  like  a  gentle  summer  rain. 

Reader,  the  hand  that  writes  these  lines  is  wholly  unsustained, 
save  by  Him  who  forever  reigns  Imperial  Lord  of  Glory,  and 
though  weak  in  itself,  feels  strong  in  Him.  Girt  with  the  lines 
of  God,  who  shall  prevail  against  him  or  her  who  strikes  for 
the  right  ?  None  !  Therefore,  let  us  all  be  and  do  right  in  all 
things,  for  the  true  man  and  woman  are  the  world's  helpers  ! 

The  choice,  grand  souls  of  every  land; 
God's  might  and  power  within  their  hand,  — 
Crowned  with  His  majesty  they  stand. 

The  twain  who  truly  love,  live  in  two  worlds  at  once,  —  this, 
and  the  celestial  one  beyond  !  conscious  entities  of  two  modes, 
planes,  places  and  phases  of  existence.  Day  after  day,  they 
grow  new  attractions  toward  each  other,  and  to  the  high,  holy, 
pure,  good  and  true,  not  in  sanctimone,  but  in  lofty  realization, 
far  above  the  dross  of  dull  passion,  and  the  dross  of  fallible* 


404  vroiux,  love,  and  marriage. 

earth,  habit,  manner,  mode,  and  custom.  They  breathe  the 
aromas  of  Heaven,  and  never  sense  the  sulphurous  odors  of  the 
pit.  While  they  live,  they  live  for  each  other,  and  when  they 
die  are  parted  but  for  a  season,  sure  to  meet  again,  — 

"  Where  the  weary  cease  from  troubling,  and  the  wicked  are  at  rest." 

And  Ruth  said,  "  Entreat  me  not  to  leave  thee,  or  to  return 
from  following  after  thee :  for  whither  thou  goest,  I  will  go : 
and  where  thou  lodgest,  I  will  lodge :  thy  people  shall  be  my 
people,  and  thy  God  my  God :  where  thou  diest,  I  will  die,  and 
there  will  I  be  buried.  And  the  Lord  do  so  to  me,  and  more 
aiso,  if  aught  but  death  part  thee  and  me." 
Vive  V Amour  1 


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This  series  of  superb  and  extraordinary  works,  constituting  the  Randolph 
Library,  written  by  a  man  whose  genius  and  power  —  notwithstanding  the  pur- 
posed neglect  of  past  years,  springing  from  the  little  rivalry  of  infinitely 
smaller  men — is  now  acknowledged  to  be  of  the  first  grade  and  rank  of  the 
world's  best  writers,  now  or  heretofore. 

I. 

CASCA  LLANNA;  LOVE,  WOMAN,  MARRIAGE.    The  Grand  Secret. 

A  Book  for  those  who  have  Hearts.    By  Casca  Llanna. 

This  is  the  ablest  and  the  grandest  Book  on  Love,  Man,  "Woman,  the  Laws 
of  Affection  and  Marriage,  that  ever  fell  from  human  pen.  No  description, 
critique,  or  synopsis  can  begin  to  do  justice  to  the  mighty  work,  which  ought 
to  be  bound  in  gold  and  be  on  the  table  of  every  man,  woman,  and  youth  in 
the  land  and  in  the  world.  It  is  an  exhaustive  and  large  work,  yet  is  sold  at 
$2.50. 

SYNOPSIS. 

Chap.  I.  —  Love,  Wealth,  Power,  —  a  mighty  Lesson.  The  two  Sphinxes: 
Woman,  Fascination.  True  and  False  Love,  —  their  lines  of  difference. 
Some  very  peculiar  ideas  about  women.  Female  nature  superior  to  male, 
and  why.  Test  of  a  genuine  Love.  Passion-love.  Curious  notions  of 
Noyes,  Smith,  Swedenborg,  aed  some  spiritualistic  affinitists  on  love,  —  and 
bad  ones,  — some  of  them.     "Women  suffer  less  and  are  more  cruel  in  love 


matters  than  men."  Is  it  true?  If  so,  why?  Signs  of  a  false  lore,  and  a 
true  one. 

Chap.  II.  —  The  one  great  human  want  is  love.  "Why  ?  Happiness  im- 
possible without  a  love  to  crown  life.  Women  worse  off  than  men.  She 
must  have  love  or  die!  Men  satisfied  with  Passion,  but  women  never, 
Why?  Magnetic  attraction.  Physical  aspects  of  Love.  Its  celestial  chem- 
istry,—  a  grand  secret  and  hint  to  every  woman,  and  lover,  and  husband, 
too,  —  not  to  be  neglected.  One  of  Love's  Hidden  Mysteries,  and  a  won- 
derful one.  Conditions  of  Love.  Why  we  are  not  loved.  Divorce  Sharp- 
ers. "  Passional  Attraction."  The  Miser  on  the  Desert.  A  Wonderful 
Dream.  Why  a  Seduced  Wife  can  never  be  happy  with  her  Seducer.  The 
Laws  of  Amatory  Passione. 

Chap.  III.  —  Strange  Love-origin  of  crime,  —  curious.  Why  a  loved 
wife  can  never  be  Seduced.  No  wife  who  is  loved  can  ever  be  led  astray. 
Why  no  husband  can  prevent  her  going  aside  unless  he  does  love  her.  A 
hint  for  Husbands,  —  and  a  terrible  fact.  A  fallacy  exploded.  Marks  ot 
Love, — The  Mystery  of  Mysteries!  How  wives  are  slain;  how  hus- 
bands make  them  false !  Seduction  by  condolence !  New  readings  of  old 
words.  The  quietus  of  Anti-Marriageists.  Whoever  cannot  weep  is  Lost ! 
Why  Libertinage  can  never  satisfy  or  pay.  The  death-blow  to  "  Free  Love." 
The  Home  argument !  A  Love  Pang  worse  than  triple  death.  Jealousy. 
From  Parent  to  Child.  Theories  of  Soul-origin.  A  curious  thing  about 
Parentage.  A  Strange  Mystery  of  Fatherhood.  Secret  and  Mysterious 
cause  of  Adultery. 

Chap.  IV.  —  Necessity  of  returned  Love.  Who  wins  a  body  loses  ;  who 
wins  a  soul  wins  all  ! !  a  strange,  but  mighty  rule  of  Love !  The  Vermicular 
Philosophers.  Why  Free  Lovers  always  come  to  grief!  The  11th  and  12th 
Commandments.  Passional  dangers  of  Eating-houses!  "The  long  and 
short  of  it."  Moments  of  very  strange,  wonderful,  and  mystic  beauty  in  all 
women.  The  mystery  of  Vampirism,  —  a  terrible  revelation  !  Picture  of  a 
vampire  woman.  How  to  tell  them.  Picture  of  a  love-laden  woman. 
True  Womanhood,  and  its  counterfeit.  A  true  woman's  Love.  Men  cannot 
call  out  love  ;  but  can  kill  it  quickly.  Why?  The  three  things  essential  to 
call  out  woman's  love  ! ! 

Chap.  V.  —  A  strange,  weird  Power  of  the  human  soul.  The  sunbursts  of 
Love  in  the  heart-reft  and  lonely!  The  Solar  Law  of  Love.  A  Vampire. 
The  Better  "  Something."  The  Bridal  Hour,  and  the  fearful  "Afterwards." 
An  unsuspected,  terrible  counterfeit  of  Love.  Legend  of  the  Wandering  Jew, 
and  Herodias,  his  mate.  "  Circles,"  "  Sorosis,"  and  the  Circean  Sisterhood. 
Protection  from  Vampire  Life  leeches.  How  these  are  created  by  Parents  not 
loving  each  other.  Singular  fact  and  a  Plea  for  the  fallen  woman.  Actual 
Vampirism,  a  case  described.  Spider-women.  Kidney  troubles  indicate  Love 
troubles  also.  The  triple  form  of  Love,  —  a  new  revelation.  The  kind  of 
Love  that  sets  us  crazy !  Love  tides.  Proof  of  Love-adaptedness.  Love 
and  Friendship,  —  the  difference.  Eternal  Affinityism  dissected.  A  grand 
Love-Truth. 

^hap.  VI.  — New  definitions  of  Marriage,  —  Love  a  fluid  2Ether  ! !  Ori- 
gin of  Vampire  Life,  —  how  they  destroy  plant  and  animal  life.  Why  loving 
wives  and  husbands  fall.  A  Test.  Genius,  Love,  and  Passion  go  together. 
Why?  The  Genius-producing  Law.  The  Law  of  Social  Joy.  A  chapter  full 
of  redemptive  counsel  for  those  wrecked  on  Love's  storm-lashed  racks. 
Vivat ! 

Chap.  VTI.  —  Love's  Chemistry,  —  very  curious,  but  very  true.  Love's 
double  nature.  Magnetic,  Electric,  and  Nervous  bases  of  the  grand  Passion  ! 
Law  of  Tidal  Love.  The  Poison  flow.  Attraction  of  Passion.  Chills  and 
Fevers  of  true  Affection  !  Immortalization.  Difference  between  male  and 
female  existence.  Strange.  What  a  woman  never  forgets,  or  forgives.  To 
Husbands  and  Lovers.     Words  never  to  be  forgotten  by  either. 

Chap.  VIII.  —  Goodness  alone  is  Power.    Brain  versus  Heart !    Knowl- 


3 

edge  is  strength,  not  power!  Head  versus  Heart  "Women.  Grooves, 
Moods,  Phases  of  Love.  How  Love  requires  but  one  second  to  change  to 
deadly  Hatred.  A  Mystery.  Isabella  of  Spain,  and  Marfori,  her  lover.  How 
the  Franco-Prussian  War  resulted  from  their  loving.  Singular  fact  about  a 
woman's  Magic  Photographic  power.  Darwin  of  the  "Monkey-origin  of 
Man  "  on  trial.     His  acquittal.     A  Hint  to  Parents. 

Chap.  IX.  —  Why  women  are  ill,  but  should  not  be.  Confectionery  and 
Love.  Drugged  Candy.  An  unsuspected  rock  on  which  lovers  are  wrecked. 
Mental  Sex,  not  physical,  is  what  men  love  most.  About  woman's  dress,  as 
Love  creators.  A  mistake  about  women  which  most  men  make.  Another 
word  for  the  "  Strange  Woman."  Why  women  complain,  and  why  wives  die 
early  !     Extremes  :     Shakerism  —  Freeism.     Caution  to  all. 

Chap.  X.  —  Divorce  :  Hereditary  Bias.  The  Love-cure.  An  Old  Friend 
in  a  New  Dress.  Why  boy-babies  are  kissed  more  than  girl  infants.  Why 
girl-babies  reverse  the  business  after  the  second  year.  Camp-meeting  and 
Ball-room  Loves.  Another  Mystery.  People  who  are  Love-starved.  The 
Affection-Congress, — the  Conductor,  the  Train,  the  Passengers,  and  the  Ar- 
rival.    A  splendid  series  of  Facts  for  the  Married. 

Chap.  XI.  —  A  New  Discovery  in  Love,  and  a  great  one  too!  To  a  Hus- 
band !  To  a  Lover !  Jealousy  exists  without  Love  !  Love  may  exist  with- 
out Jealousy.  Gems  of  rare  Truth.  How  to  recover  when  Love-exhausted. 
Beginning  of  Souls.  Why  Foeticide,  at  any  stage,  is  worse  than  adult  Mur- 
der !  Freezing  of  Affection.  The  Sad  Story  of  a  Heart !  What  a  Man  said 
about  it.  A  Persian  Poet's  plea  for  "  Free  Love."  Its  Refutation.  Rome 
Before  the  Caesars. 

Chap.  XII.  —  The  age  of  "  Brass."  Why  Mutilates  cannot  Love  !  Why  a 
Woman  recognizes  Genuine  Manhood.  "The  Origin  of  Evil."  "Organic" 
Love.  Why  no  Man  can  respect  a  "  Mistress."  Why  a  "Mistress"  cannot 
be  Happy  !     Something  concerning  Wedded  Life,  very  seldom  thought  of. 

Chap.  XIII.  —  A  Piece  of  a  Man !  Wife  versus  "Kept  Miss."  Selecting 
Partners  :  the  bad  rule  and  the  good  one.  Pre-nuptial  Familiarities.  Marie 
and  her  "Husband!"  Keep  Cool.  How  a  Wife  bore  a  Christ-like  Infant! 
Amativeness,  tame  and  wild,  —  their  effects.  Eternal  Affinity  is  infernal  non- 
sense !  Why  ?  A  novel  idea  of  how  Eternity  may  be  Passed.  An  idea  of  a 
new  and  better  method  of  Divorce.  "  Complex  Marriage  "  in  Heaven,  —  a 
curious  notion.  Why  Great  Men  and  Women  are  often  Sensualists.  Did 
ever  a  woman  forgive  a  man's  preference  of  a  Rival.     Can  she  ? 

Chap.  XIV.  —  A  Penny's  Worth  of  Wit,  and  what  came  of  it !  Dimity 
vs.  Divinity!  One-sided  Love,  and  Single-sided  Marriage.  The  Piggitude 
of  Husbands  "  (?).  What  a  Sensible  Woman  said  about  Love-making  Men! ! 
Wives  Beware !  How  to  Make  Him  Love  Her ! !  Denial,  —  its  fruits.  The 
Great  Question  Direct.  Its  Answer !  How  to  Make  Her  Love  Him  ! !  No 
Ugly  Women.  All  are  Beautiful,  somehow !  All  Women  Demand  Home 
and  Homage.  No  one  can  Seduce  a  Loving  Woman.  Why  ?  Potiphar's 
Wife.  How  to  Conquer  by  Stooping.  Why  a  Coarse  Person  can  Resist 
Temptation  better  than  a  Fine  one.  Old  Maids !  Old  Bachelors !  What 
Sappho  said  on  Love  ;  her  Poem. 

Chap.  XV.  —  The  Long-haired  Philosophers  on  Love;  Mr.  Boarland  and 
Miss  Green.  Ascent,  Descent ;  a  Great  New  Truth,  for  Wives  and  Hus- 
bands. How  the  Coarse  Feeds  upon  the  Fine,  —  the  Stronger  on  the  Weaker 
one.  Who  are  StrictJy  Human,  and  who  are  not.  Anatomy  of  several  grades 
of  Professional  Love-ists.  Honeymoonness  versus  Settle-downity !  Defini- 
tions :  Strength,  Force,  Energy,  Power,  Esteem,  Friendship,  and  Passion. 
Unless  you  love  you  can't  be  great,  or  even  good.  How  to  Reconstruct  a 
Wife.     Love  and  the  other,  —  in  ancient  Pompeii. 

Chap.  XVI. — Antagonisms.  Stormy  Love ;  its  uses.  A  Defence  of  Adam, 
— premier.  Who  Falls  by  Love,  by  Love  must  Rise ! !  Skeletons  in  People's 
Closets,  —  and  our  own.  Copy-ists.  Hero- Worship, — its  Folly.  Why? 
Anatomization  of  a  Hero !     Picture  of  a  Modern  "  Husband !  "     Why  Lincoln 


was  a  Great  Man.  St.  Peter  and  Paddy  O'Rafferty !  What  befell  an  Afflnity- 
ist  in  Same  Company.  James  Fisk,  Jr.  His  Love-power,  and  Career.  Hia 
Parentage,  Nature,  Character.  The  Grand  Secret  of  his  wonderful  Success ! 
What  the  Feronee  Lady  said  about  Fisk,  Vanderbilt,  Butler,  and  Forney. 

Chap.  XVII.  —  Woman's  Eyes,  and  How  to  Read  Them.  The  curious 
conditions  of  Winning  a  Woman.  Her  Rule  of  Safety,  —  Powerful.  The 
Grand  Magnetic  Law.  The  Rule  and  Law  of  Ruin ;  also  the  Rule  and  Law 
of  Right.  How  a  false  step  photographs  itself  and  the  Party  — in  her  eye  — 
an  Egyptian  secret !  The  distrusts  of  love-life,  and  their  causes.  The  deeper 
meanings  of  Love !  Descensive  and  Ascensive  Passion.  "  The  mother-in- 
law  Curse."  Admiral  Verhuel  —  the  father  of  Napoleon  III.  The  Louisiana 
Belle  and  what  befell  her !  The  Male  and  Female  Worlds  distinct.  New  Fact — 
Woman's  rights  destroys  marriage.  ' '  Who's  been  here  since  I've  been  gone  ?  " 
Chemical  love.     Secret  of  absolute  love  power. 

Chap.  XVIII.  —  "  Spiritual  or  Mediumistic  marriages,"  a  concubinic  Sham  I 
Madame  George  Sands'  Consuelo  Love-theory  —  rejected.  Personal  Earth- 
quakes and  Periodic  Excesses.  True  Love  renders  us  malaria-proof — 
Singular  Fact !  Debauchees  and  the  Parasites  that  attack  them !  Why  insects 
and  beasts  prefer  human  prey  to  all  other  —  A  Strange  and  vast  discovert  ! 
Lust  produced  by  animalcule.  Another  Discovery  —  and  how  some  little 
worms  brought  on  the  War  in  Europe  !  How  to  make  Home  happy  !  —  a  new 
recipe.  Want,  and  what  it  does!  The  Seducer's  Wiles.  A  Woman's  Story, 
and  a  sad  one.     The  1st,  2d,  and  last  grand  duty  of  every  husband  living. 

Chap.  XIX.  —  How  meat  hurts  our  souls  at  times  unless  properly 
slaughtered  —  which  it  seldom  is  ! !  A  fact  for  Legislation — How  a  wicked 
cook  magnetically  injures  our  food.  Ethereal  action  of  Love.  An  Extraor- 
dinary Love  Mystery  revealed.  How  Slovenliness  kills  affection !  The 
Suffrage  Problem.  The  New  Departure.  About  Relationship,  very  curious  ! 
Touch  !  Good  women  get  the  worst  husbands ;  Bad  men,  the  worst  wives. 
The  general  Mixed-upness.     Boy  and  Girl  love.     Something  for  Everybody. 

Chap.  XX.  — The  Girl  and  Bride  of  *  the  Period.  What's  up?  Why 
Honeymoons  turn  bitter  so  quickly !  Curious  causes  of  Female  Whims 
and  Oddities.  Scarcity  of  real  Friendship.  The  Love  Key.  The  Seven 
Devils.  The  King  Passion.  Amative  Love  Passion  beyond  the  grave ! ! 
Woman's  Grand  power.     Ben  Eli's  Marrowy  letter. 

Chap.  XXI.  —  Dead-level  love.  Tiffs  and  spats.  Husbandic  Rules, 
which  husbands  neglect  —  and  pay  for  doing  it.  Married  celibates.  Angu- 
larities. More  about  Eyes.  Blondes  and  Brunettes  —  their  relative  love- 
power  and  value  as  Wives  —  A  very  curious  analysis  worth  much  to  those 
concerned!!  Black  Eyes,  and  the  "  De'il."  Blondes  resist  outward  pressure 
better  than  Brunettes.  Brunettes  fall  from  within  quicker  than  Blondes. 
Why,  in  both  cases.  Singular  !  Astounding  theory  concerning  Brunettes  — 
Have  they  all  Black  man's  blood  in  their  veins  ?  The  question  and  its  answer ! 
Blondes  love  more  than  one  —  at  one  time.  Brunettes  one  only  :  —  Their 
Fire-Packed  Souls !  Their  relative  love  and  revenge  power !  A  Brunette's 
love.  Its  intensity.  Blonde  love  —  its  superior  delicacy.  Disadvantages  of 
the  Ruddy.  Brunette  love,  Sense- Subduing ;  Blonde  love,  Soul-Subduing ! 
Brunette's  never  vampiral.  Blondes  are,  and  a  startling  fact !  Their  relative 
immmunity  from  varied  diseases  !  A  widow's  and  widower's  chances  of  mar- 
riage better  than  those  of  single  persons  !  Curious  reasons.  Cotton- Aids. 
How  to  win  a  true  man!  A  "Case."  Male  Vampires.  Little  women  have 
advantages.  Why?  Reconstruction  of  Dead-Loves.  How?  Loftier  Gospel. 
New  England  Love !  Comparative  deaths  of  the  wives  of  light  and  dark 
men.     Whose  children  live  longest  —  and  Why ! 

Chap.  XXII.  —  How  we  sigh  for  the  old  loves!  Prodigal  Wives  and 
Husbands.  Meddling  "Friends."  Dangers  of  unrequited  Love!  The 
Awakening.  Never  Make  your  loves  Public !  Watching  a  wife  —  and  what 
came  of  it ! !  What  befell  Mr.  Connor  —  and  his  trotcsers  —  while  watching 
his  wife!  —  The  place  of  sighs  !  —  a  touching  story  of  "Lost  Souls."    The 


5 

"All- Eight  fallacy  exploded.  The  Social  Evil!  —  a  chapter  of  which  the 
Author  is  proud  —  and  his  readers  will  be  glad. 

Chaps.  XXIII.  and  XXIV.  —  Pre-nuptial  Deceptions,  sure  to  be  found  out ! 
Complaining  Marriagees.  Necessity  of  loving  some  one.  Dissection  of  an 
Atheistic  Libertine.  The  Upper  Faith.  The  Dog  Nature.  Temptation. 
The  True  Bill.  Bad  Marriage-horrors!  The  Magic- Power  of  dress.  "Wife- 
neglecting  husbands.  Woman's  love  —  a  Poem.  Evidences  of  high  civiliza- 
tion from  a  savage's  point  of  view.  A  rebuke  to  the  19th  Century.  Ig- 
norant oners  and  foolish  acceptances.  Wedded  Licensees.  —  Impure  brides, — 
Discovered.  The  Married  Eights  of  Man.  What  a  Turk  told  the  Author 
about  Women  —  New  and  very  good !  How  the  great  are  fooled  by  the 
little.  How  the  best  women  must  act  queer  and  offish  at  times.  —  A  Hard 
"  Case."  No  Atheist  a  full  man.  Hopes  fixed  on  inappreciates.  No  man 
can  endure  neglect.  A  powerful  female  advantage !  A  powerful  male 
one !  Stingy  husbands !  How  husbands  can  re-win  the  wife's  love !  A 
splendid  resort ! ! 

A  story  and  sermon  concerning  "  the  animiles  what  went  out  for  to  fight." 
The  fight  and  what  came  of  it.  Singular  fact  about  jealousy.  "  Only 
once !  —  that  won't  count  much  !"  Won't  it  ?  Can  a  lover  trust  a  woman  who 
deceives  her  husband  ?     Social  Brigands  —  their  own  worst  foes.     Why. 

Chap.  XXV.  —  A  bit  of  the  author's  life  history.  What  love  is  like. 
Human  Besponsibility.  Vastness  of  the  human  soul!  "She  was  all  the 
world  to  Me !  *  A  Heart  Poem  No  libertine  can  evoke  real  Love.  Modern 
Love!  Sensitiveness — its  advantages.  The  seven  Points  —  this  alone  is 
worth  the  cost  of  the  book  to  every  woman.  Something  for  wives ;  do.  for  hus- 
bands. "When  her  soul's  at  work!"  The  distributive  Offices  of  woman's 
Being.  The  human  Telegraphic  system.  Its  wonders.  Sexburg  and  Scoun- 
drelton.  Counterfeit  kisses.  "Opportunity."  The  eeal  kiss  !  Its  meaning. 
Grand!  When  friendships  fail!  "  Bitter  Beer !  "  Home!  Sweet  Home! 
Its  Joys.  "Like  a  gentle  summer  rain !  "  A  Poem.  The  twain  who  truly  love. 
Vive  L' Amour!    Einis. 

II. 

LOVE :  ITS  HIDDEN  HISTOEY.  THE  MASTEE  PASSION.  A  Book 
for  Woman,  Man,  Wives,  Husbands.  The  Loving  and  the  Unloved. 
Also  Female  Beauty  and  Power.  Their  Attainment,  Culture,  anb 
Eetention.     By  Paschal  B.  Eandolph. 

"Hearts?    Hearts? 
"Who  speaks  of  breaking  Hearts  ?  " 

Sixth  Edition.     Price,  §2.25.     Post  free. 

Of  this  volume,  reprinted  from  the  large  octavo  edition,  nothing  need  he 
said;  for  "Sixth  Edition"  tells  its  own  story.  It  differs  entirely  from  the 
preceding  work,  and  covers  totally  different  grounds.  Together,  these  two 
works  embrace  more  on  love  and  its  laws  than  all  the  other  works  extant ; 
and  it  will  be  many  a  long  year  before  another  man  arises  endowed  with  the 
superlative  power  and  genius  of  producing  anything  comparable  with  these 
two  Master  Volumes  of  the  ages. 

CONTENTS. 

Chapter  I.  —  What  is  Love  ?  Eeply  —  All  of  us  born  with  a  certain 
amount  of  love  in  us.  Passion  is  not  love,  but  love  is  Passion!  "Free 
Love  "  Infernalisms.  Life  and  Love  a  desperate  game.  True  Love  and  its 
counterfeits.  Prudery.  Why  young  girls  "  Fall."  Magnetic  Love.  Why 
the  wedded  disagree  —  a  curious  cause  —  and  unsuspected!  Abortionists 
—  the  infamous  tribe.  Love's  Hidden  Mysteries.  The  TEN  great  Eules  and 
Laws  thereof!     She  stoops  to  conquer!    Dress  —  Silence  —  as   Powers   of 


Love.  Vampires  life-leeches.  Soul-devourers.  Test  of  True  Lore. 
Jealousy.     Suspicion.     When  woman  is  divine,  and  how  to  make  her  so. 

Chap.  II.  —  The  wife's  great  fault  and  oversight.  Adultery.  The  kiss. 
A  woman's  idea  of  Love.  Doggish  husbands.  Blind  Tom  and  the  Monkey 
boy.  Love  an  Element.  Why  she  "can't  bear  him!"  Why  he  "hates 
her!"  Divorce.  "Spirit  medium"  frauds.  "Love  powders."  Dragon's 
blood.  The  Heart  Song.  Barn-yard  Love  Philosophers.  "I've  fallen  — 
again !  "  Passion  in  Men  and  Women.  Song  of  the  Forsaken.  Laughing 
Scandal.     Sunshine.     Sugar-life. 

Chap.  III.  —  Perverted  Magnetisms.  Magnetic  Poisons.  Uterine  diseases  : 
undreamed-of  causes  of  such.  Complaints  of  women.  Vulgar  natures. 
Love  dependent  on  victuals  and  drink.  The  Song  of  Wedded  Misery. 
Vicarious  Love  —  Wretchedness.  Real  Marriage  —  What  it  is,  and  is  not ! 
Meddling  People.     Love  song  of  the  Soul. 

Chap.  IV.  —  Power  of  words  —  A  startling  truth.  Air;  the  supreme  joy 
of  life.  Curious  but  true  !  —  Oxygen  ! !  —  a  Love  creator !  The  two  Babies. 
A  sad,  sad  story.  Nellie  and  the  nickering  candle.  Consumption.  Affec- 
tion ;  Love ;  the  difference  between.  Love  and  provender !  The  secret  sin ! 
The  Proper  Study  of  Mankind  is  — Woman ! 

Chap.  V.  —  Origins  of  the  Black,  Red,  and  White  races.  Differences 
between  the  sexes.  "  Blue  Pill  for  Breaking  Hearts."  Unwelcome  Love  no 
love  at  all.  Forced  attentions  and  other  Poisons.  Dark  people  healthier 
than  light  ones.  Why  ?  Modern  marriage  not  a  Bed  of  Roses.  Why  ?  The 
wonders  of  a  woman.  Nuts  for  married  people.  False  divorce.  Helpless- 
ness of  woman.  Men  of  lofty  soul  love  simple  women  best.  Why  ?  Actual 
Marriage  means  reciprocateness.  Why  a  woman  who  bears  a  child  by  p, 
dark  man  can  never  thereafter  bear  a  light  one.  Transfusion.  Temptati'.n 
—  and  how  to  resist  it.     Magnetism.     Mingling.     Morbid  husbands. 

Chap.  VI.  —  How  to  win  a  husband's  love.  The  Three  Oriental  Love 
Secrets.  An  excellent,  but  strange,  revelation.  Magnetic  Will  and  Love 
Power.  Love  Starvation  —  and  how  to  cure  it !  The  Seven  Rules  for  Hus- 
bands —  good  ones  to  the  wise.  Mrs.  Grundy.  Free  will.  John  and  Sally. 
"Animality."  The  other  side.  Tides  of  Passion  and  Love.  The- Social 
Evil.  "When  it  is  dark" — a  mournful  tale.  Incompatibility.  Why  relations 
hate  each  other.  Physical  bases  of  human  love.  Seven  Laws  of  Love. 
Vampires.  The  author's  experience.  —  Why  he  loves  a  pretty  woman. 
"  When  the  Sultan  goes  to  Ispahan  !  "    Funny  but  dangerous. 

Chap.  VII.  —  Woman  is  Love  Incarnate,  only  men  don't  realize  it.  Dim- 
ity versus  Divinity.  Hearts  for  sale !  Woman  fails  to  know  her  Power. 
Love  an  Art.  The  Magic  Ring — very  strange.  The  Love-cure.  Mother-in- 
law —  the  trouble  they  make.  Once  in  a  whilish  love  of  husbands.  Lola 
Montez.  The  Christ-imaged  child.  Wonderful  law.  Love  storms,  gates, 
tempests.  How  to  subdue  wild  husbands.  Woman's  second  attack  wins  and  why. 

Chap.  VIII.  —  Love  not  to  be  forced  on  either  side.  What  Leon  Gozlan 
said  "about  women.  "Infernal  fol-de-rolisms,"  "Legal"  violence!  How 
Love-matches  are  broken  off.  The  Lesson  it  teaches.  The  French  "  Girl's" 
curious  Prayer.  Beauty;  its  laws.  Insanity.  An  invaluable  chapter  on 
the  art  and  means  of  increasing  Female  Beauty ;  translated  from  the  French 
of  Dr.  Cazenave.  Special  instructions  for  beautifying  skin,  hair,  eyes, 
teeth  —  in  short,  the  Perfect  Adornment  of  Women. 

Chap.  IX. —  Good-humor.  Home.  The  true  life.  Heart  versus  Brain. 
The  Woman  condemned  to  be  strangled,  and  how  she  was  saved.  The  three 
Lessons.  A  latter-day  Sermon  —  Text :  "  Jordan  is  a  hard  road  to  travel." 
The  Castaways.  Singular.  Magdalen.  Scandal  and  Gossip.  What  Echo 
said.  The  Baby  World.  A  thrilling  Sermon  by  a  reformed  Prize  Fighter. 
A  splendid  Poem  —  Swinburn. 

Chap.  X.  —  "Eternal  Affinityism,"  and  Chureh-ortion.  Honeymoons 
versus  sour  Syrup.  Marriage  in  1970.  One  happy  man;  the  curious  reason 
why.      "Doctors."      Science  —  a  wonderful    case    of  its    mighty   Power 


Cyprians  not  all  bad  or  lost.  Why?  Monogamy  and  Amative  Stimulants. 
The  finest  race  upon  the  Planet.  Propagation  of  Heroes  —  how  it  is  accom- 
plished !  The  Eye  as  an  Index  of  Character  —  Gray,  Blue,  Hazel,  Black 
eyes.  The  Laugh-cure  in  a  new  phase.  Matrimonial  career.  Gossiping. 
Healthy  Love.  Sex  in  Nature.  Marriage  of  Light  and  Matter.  Music  is 
Sexive.     Three  classes  of  Women.     Whom  not  to  wed. 

Chap.  XL  —  Married  Celibates.  Friendliness.  Fretting.  "Lip  Salve.'J 
Boston  Philosophy  —  Soul-Marriage !  A  Fashionable  Lady's  Prayer. 
Prayer  of  tho  Girl  of  the  Period.  Hottentot's  Heaven.  Voudoo  John,  and 
Female  Subjugation  by  Black-magic  Arts.  Breastless  Ladies.  How  Wives 
are  Poisoned! 

Chap.  XII.  —  The  Fountain  of  Love.  How  to  remedy  vital  exhaustion. 
What  to  eat  to  gain  Love-Power.  Power  of  a  Loving  Woman.  Her  child. 
Excess.  Promiscuous  "  Love."  "  When  Sweetness  reigns  in  Woman !  " 
A  half  Man ;  and  how  to  pick  him  out.  Ankles.  Genius  and  Wedlock. 
Why  the  Talented  are  generally  Wretched  in  the  Marriage  State.  Singular 
facts,  and  Singular  Faults  in  Women.  Bitter  Experience.  A  Singular  Pa- 
per upon  Incest.  Non- reciprocation —  and  its  cause — and  cure.  Childless 
Couples  —  Causes  —  Cure.  Fault-finding.  Jealousy ;  its  cause  and  cure. 
The  Rule  and  Law  of  Human  Power,  or  Genius. 

The  book  also  contains  special  articles  concerning  why  wives  hate  their 
husbands.  Singular  causes  of  wedded  misery,  and  its  cure.  A  hint  to 
mothers.  Hint  to  unloved  wives.  Gusty  love.  When  woman  has  most  con- 
quering power.  The  stormy  life.  The  magnetic  attack.  Sex  and  passion 
after  we  are  dead.  Old-maidhood,  and  how  to  avoid  it  —  the  how !  [The 
work  called  "  Seership,"  containing  the  Oriental  Woman's  Art  of  Love,  and 
direct  statement  and  application  of  the  seven  magnetic  laws  of  love,  was 
put  to  press  after  the  above  volumes  were  written.  Its  price  is  three  dollars, 
and  can  be  had  only  direct  from  this  office.~\ 

Of  the  large  double  volume,  octavo  work  on  "Love  and  the  Master-Pas- 
sion," the  universal  testimony  is  that  no  other  hook  in  any  language  is  so  full, 
plain,  clear,  explicit,  and  exhaustive.  Its  price  is  $2.25.  Post  free,  direct 
from  this  office  only. 

III. 

AFTEli  DEATH;  OR,  DISEMBODIED  MAN.  The  Human  Soul  and 
its  Destiny  after  Death.  A  Revelation  of  the  Ethereal  Uni- 
verse,     CONCERNING     THE      LOCATION,      GEOGRAPHY,      TOPOGRAPHY,     AND 

Scenery  of  the  Upper  World;  the  Occupation,  Habits,  Customs, 
Modes  of  Living,  and  Transmundane  Destiny  of  the  Human  Soul. 
Also  concerning  Sex,  and  its  Uses  after  Death;  affirming  that 
it  does  exist,  and  that  it  will  remain  a  human  happiness  forever. 
Fifth  Edition.     Price,  $2.25.     Postage  free. 

What  I  teas  is  passed  hy ; 
What  I  am  away  doth  fly ; 
What  I  stiall  be  few  can  see; 
Yet  in  that  my  heauties  he. 

Song  of  the  Soul. 

Chapter  I.  —  Concerning  the  God.  New  Definition  of  Deity.  His 
Nature  and  Dwelling-place.  Existence  of  a  Third  Grand  Universe.  Are 
Souls  as  well  as  Bodies  originated  here  on  earth?  A  New  Mental  Power. 
The  Eternal  Throne.  Its  Locality.  The  Absolute  Existence  of  a  Magnifi- 
cent, but  Strange,  Supernal  or  Soul  Country. 

Chap.  II.  —  Why  is  Man  Immortal  ?  Reply.  Singular  Proofs.  Invisible 
People.  What  is  God?  Another  Idea.  The  Answer.  The  Exact  Locality 
of  Hell.  White-blooded  People  of  the  Future.  An  Astonishing  Prophecy, 
The   Author  not  dependent  on  Theurgy  for  his  belief,  nor  for  this  book 


8 

Value  of  Clairvoyance  in  comparison  therewith.  The  Devil  —  his  origin. 
"The  Redeemed."  Exact  locality  of  "Heaven."  About  the  "Golden 
Streets." 

Chap.  III.  —  The  Rationale  of  Going  Up.  Matter's  immateriality.  About 
the  first  Human  Couple.  Extent  of  the  Sky.  Origin  of  Negroes  and  other 
races  not  identical.  Revelation  of  the  Grand  Secret  of  the  Ages.  Tailed 
men.     The  Origin  of  Man.     The  Development  Theory  true. 

Chap.  IV.  —  An  extraordinary  chapter.  Analysis  of  a  Human  Soul. 
Why  they  are  Death-proof.  Singular  Disclosures  concerning  the  parts  and 
organs  of  a  Soul  —  its  eyes,  legs,  mouth,  teeth,  head,  hair,  arms,  feet,  stom- 
ach, lungs,  hands.  The  Sex  question  settled.  Coquettes  and  Dandies  in  the 
other  life.  Souls'  Dress  and  Clothing.  The  Fashions  among  them.  Do  we 
carry  our  deformities  with  us  there  ?  What  they  do  in  Soul-land.  A  scep- 
tical person's  arrival  there.  His  Surprise.  The  Soul  and  its  seat  in  the  Body. 
Dancing,  Singing,  Playing  there.  Idiots.  Thieves.  "  Still-borns."  Cyp- 
rians. Maniacs.  Insane.  Murderers.  Ministers.  Suicides  and  Mon- 
strosities —  when  in  the  Soul-world.  Why  Human  Beings  sometimes 
resemble  Beasts.  A  very  Curious  Revelation.  Some  Still-borns  immortal, 
others  not  so.  Why?  "Justification  of  Suicide."  Consequences  of  Self- 
destruction.  The  effects  of  Onanism  and  Masturbation  on  the  Soul.  "Bad 
Women  "  there.     The  Judgment-day. 

Chap.  V.  —  Are  Animals  Immortal  ?  The  Budhistic  Doctrine  of  the  Soul's 
Absorption  into  Deity  settled.  Phantomosophy.  A  Wonderful  Power  of  the 
Disbodied  People.  Its  Explanation.  The  Rationale  of  Delirium  Tremens. 
A  Singular  Pact.  How  Thoughts  are  read.  The  Explanation  of  Memory. 
A  new  Revelation.  Genius.  A  new  Faculty.  Creatures  in  the  Upper 
Worlds  of  Disembodied  Humanity.     Phantom  Dogs  and  Birds.     Soul  Magic. 

Chap.  VI.  —  Some  very  Startling  Questions,  and  their  Answers.  Rela- 
tionship in  "Heaven."  The  "  Affinity"  Question  Settled.  Is  Death  Painful? 
Death  by  Hanging  and  Drowning.  The  Sensation  thereof.  Bad  Marriages 
here.  Their  effects  over  there.  The  Fate  of  Duelists.  Soldiers.  Execu- 
tioners. Of  those  who  die  of  fright.  Of  Horror.  Of  Drunkenness.  The 
fate  of  Genius  and  its  singular  Origin.  Obsessions.  Crime-engendering 
Dangers.  Haunted  Houses.  Haunted  People.  A  curious  cause  of  Mental 
Suffering.  Music  in  the  Upper  World.  Why  do  people  marry  there  ?  The 
Reply. 

Chap.  VII.  —  Location,  Direction,  Distance,  Formation,  and  Substance  of 
the  Soul-land.  A  new  Planet  near  the  Sun.  The  Soul  World  tangible  and 
real.  The  Throne  of  God,  its  nature,  bulk,  and  locality.  Location  of  the 
final  home  of  Souls.  The  Origin  of  the  first  Human  Soul.  Uncreated  Souls. 
The  rain  of  world-souls  and  soul-seeds.  Location  of  the  seven  grand  spheres 
or  zones.  Length  of  an  eternity.  Our  Soul  World  visible  on  clear  nights. 
Its  depth  and  dimensions.  Distance  and  substance  of  the  Soul  World.  How 
we  go  to  and  from  there.  Plants  and  animals  of  Soul-land.  Scenery  about 
the  Spiritaul  Sun.  Boreal  and  Austral  suns  now  forming  at  the  poles.  Vam- 
pires.    Weight  of  Soul. 

In  this  chapter  occur  the  following  questions  and  their  answers  :  What  and 
where,  in  the  Soul  World,  Morning  Land,  Better  Country,  Aidenn  or  home 
of  the  Soul,  are  the  spheres  or  dwelling-place  of  the  disbodied  human  being? 
What  is  it  made  of?  In  what  way  is  it  seeming  or  real,  distinct  from  matter, 
and  the  Great  Ethereal  Ocean?  Is  it  subject  to  Gravitation?  How  do  we 
get  there  ?  And  back  here  ?  Is  there  any  Death  up  there  ?  Do  we  sleep  ? 
What  are  our  occupations?  Do  sects  abound  there  as  here?  How  do  we 
live  when  there  ?  What  is  the  size  of  a  disbodied  Soul  ?  Can  a  Soul  pene- 
trate Solid  Matter  and  exist?  Can  a  Soul  be  annihilated?  Could  a  man 
exist  after  being  blown  from  a  cannon's  mouth  ?  Are  we  there  as  here  char- 
acterized by  red,  black,  or  light  hair  ?  Complexion?  Slenderness?  Obesity? 
Tallness  ?  Shortness  ?  Do  we  use  vocal  language  ?  Are  there  Kings  and 
Rulers  there  ?    Books  ?    The  famous  persons  of  earth  ?    Are  they  so  there  ? 


Are  nations  distinct?  Where  are  the  dead  of  a  million  years  ago?  The 
jugglery  of  physical  manifestations.  Vegetation  of  the  Soul  World.  The 
chemical  origin  of  sin.  Heaven  aristocratic,  not  democratic.  Rationale) 
op  Vampirism,  and  who  the  Vampires  are. 

Chap.  VIII.  Spiritual  Rivers — How  we  get  to  Soul  Land — Sects  in 
Heaven  —  Fairy  People  —  The  Complexion  Question  in  Soul  Life  —  The 
Languages  used  in  Soul  Land  —  Age  in  Soul  Life  —  The  Question  of  Relation- 
ship in  Soul  Life  —  Our  Occupations  there  —  Our  Names  in  Heaven  —  Number 
of  people  in  Soul  Life  —  Good  Peter  Cooper  the  Millionnaire  —  Sustenance,  , 
food,  drink,  curious  — Very  —  "  Free  Love' '  —  Singular. 

Negroes  are  not  Black  in  Soul  Land,  nor  have  they  woolly  hair  —  Color  cf 
a  Soul  —  Some  parents  not  related  to  their  Children  —  Do  we  retain  our  names 
in  Soul  Land  —  The  Reply  —  How  Savage  Women  obtain  Infants  in  the  Upper 
Land. 

Chap.  IX.  The  Heaven  of  Savages —  First  Grand  Division  of  the  Soul 
Land  —  Indians,  Negroes,  Chinese,  Tartars,  Finns,  Kanakas,  Greeks,  English, 
Swedes,  and  the  Democracy  of  other  Tribes  —  Music  up  there,  and  how  made 

—  Houses,  Towns,  Cities,  in  the  upper  World,  how  built,  and  of  what  material 

—  Breath  up  there  —  The  Female  Thermometer  —  Curious  but  true  —  A 
Wonderful  Upper  Land  Fact — Jewels  there  —  Schools  in  Heaven  —  Effect 
of  Certain  Diseases  hereupon  us  when  we  get  to  Soul  Land  —  Life  in  Soul 
Land  —  Scenery  in  Grand  Division  No.  1.  —  Occupations  pursued  in  Aidenn — 
And  the  reason  why  —  Breathing  Up  There — Luxury — Privacy  —  Secret 
Joys  in  Soul  Life  —  Definition  of  the  Sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost  —  Its  terrible 
consequences,  and  the  millions  of  people  who  commit  it  here  —  some  through 
ignorance. 

Chap.  X.  Extraordinary  —  Very  —  The  question  of  Sex  and  Passion  in 
Soul  Life  —  An  astounding  Disclosure  thereanent  —  Why  we  shake  hands  — 
Kiss  —  The  Philosophy  of  Contact  —  Analysis  of  the  Kiss  —  And  what  it  con- 
veys —  Are  children  born  in  the  Upper  Land  —  New  and  Strange  uses  for 
the  Human  Organs  when  we  are  dead  —  The  Philosophy  of  Mingling  — 
Curious,  still  more  so  —  Loves  of  the  Angels  —  Thrilling.  In  this  chapter  the 
long-mooted  question,  "Do  we  retain  Sex,  and  all  that  the  term  implies, 
after  death  ?  Do  we  retain  amative  passion  beyond  the  grave  ?  "  are  triumphantly 
solved  in  the  affirmative,  and  the  Reasons  why  are  given.  These  chapters 
have  created  more  talk  than  any  similar  amount  of  printed  matter  ever  pub- 
lished in  this  country. 

Chap.  XL  Same  singular  subject  continued  —  Certain  Organic  Func- 
tions in  the  Spirit  World — Eating,  etc.,  there  —  Analysis  of  a  Soul  —  Its  bones, 
etc. — The  actual  existence  of  the  Trees  of  Life  and  Knowledge  —  Sensual 
Joys  of  the  Upper  Life — Their  thrilling  ecstacy  —  Heaven  as  seen  May  22, 
1866  —  Institutions,  employments,  and  pleasures  of  the  Upper  Land — De- 
scription of  the  people  there  dead  10,000  years  ago  —  The  coming  man  —  Born 
and  almost  here  —  A  Journey  to  the  oth  Grand  Division  of  Soul  Land  — 
A  Scene  in  Heaven  —  The  Dead  of  long  ago  —  Description  of  the  women 
there. 

Chap.  XII.  Extent  of  the  Universe — Description  of  Heaven  —  Curious 
Power  of  a  Soul's  Eye  —  Animals  and  Birds  in  that  Grand  Division  of  the 
Soul  Land  —  Animals  in  soul  Land  —  A  Palace  there  — Lectures  —  Studies  in 
Heaven  —  Loveometers  and  Soul-measures  —  Contents  of  a  museum  there  — 
Marriage  up  there  —  Love  also  —  Duration  of  an  "  Eternal  Affinity.  " 

Chap.  XIII.  Why  "Eternal  Affinity  "is  not  true — The  Origin  of 
Souls  —  The  part  each  Parent  plays  in  the  Creation  of  a  Child  —  Very 
Startling  and  Strange  —  Lust  and  its  Singular  Cause — An  unsuspected 
one  —  Bad  Marriages  —  Their  Effects  on  us  after  Death  —  A  Survey  of  Mar- 
riage Land  —  Why  Souls  Assail  Marriage  —  Conjugal  Wars  and  Disagree- 
ments —  The  Road  to  the  Remedy —  Announcement  of  a  New  Work  by  the 
Author  of  this,  —  Why  Souls  differ  —  A  New  Phase  and  Statement  of  the 
Metempsychosis  Idea  —  No  Deformities  carried  with  us  beyond  the  Grave. 


10 

The  Second  Grand  Division  of  Soul  Land  —  Extraordinary  Account  of  the 
Region  of  Phantasies  therein  —  The  Domain  of  Illusion — Spectral  Ships, 
Boats,  etc.  —  Sailors  —  Ports,  Oceans,  Seas,  Brokers,  Jews,  Hunters,  Indians, 
Races,  Games,  and  Life  there  —  Vastation  —  The  Sectarian  Realm  of  Illusion 

—  Hell  —  Infants  a  Span  long  —  Very  Singular  —  The  Song  of  the  Soul. 
Chap.   XIV.     Sectarian  Heavens,  and  the  Strange  and  Singular  Discussions 

that  take  place  there  —  The  List  —  The  Mahommedans  in  Soul  Land  —  Their 
Advantages  over  certain  Christians  —  The  Third  Grand  Division  and  its 
Wonderful     Sanatoria  —  Hospitals    for    the   Sick  —  And    who    they    are — 

—  The  Fourth  Grand  Division  of  Soul  Land  —  The  "  Spheres  "  —  The  Heaven 
of  Half  men  —  The  Miscegens  in  Heaven  —  The  Mystical  Blendings  (mar- 
riage) in  Morning  Land  —  The  Sciences  taught  in  the  Upper  Divisions. 

Chap.  XV.  Origin  of  the  Soul  World  — The  First  Two  Souls— The 
terrific,  impending,  and  possible  danger  of  the  explosion  and  total  destruction 
of  this  earth,  by  the  falling  in  of  the  ocean  floors  upon  the  molten  mass  in  the 
bowels  of  the  globe  —  A  Fearful  Possibility  —  An  approaching  change  in  the 
Earth's  Axis  —  The  New  Planet  near  the  Sun  —  The  New  Ring  about  being 
thrown  off  from  the  Sun — Formation  of  other  Planets  by  Cometic  condensa- 
tions, and  the  consequent  alterations  in  the  Solar  System  —  Uprising  of  a 
New  Continent  on  earth — Destruction  of  the  Asteroids  —  Discovery  of  whole 
hills  of  gold  on  earth  —  How  the  First  Souls  discovered  the  Soul  Land,  went 
to,  and  returned  from  it  —  Arrival  of  a  Rev.  Gentleman  in  Soul  Land  —  His 
astonishment  and  surprise  thereat  —  This  earth  a  Living  Organism  —  Why. 

Chap.  XVI.  The  Sixth  Grand  Division  of  Soul  Land  — Things  taught 
there  —  The  Origin  of  all  Matter  —  The  Lost  Pleiad  found — A  Lightless 
Sun  —  The  Law  of  Periodicity  —  Soul  Storms  —  Credo  —  A  new  revelation 
of  most  astounding  character. 

The  Seventh  Grand  Division  of  Morning  Land  —  Its  Superlative  Glories  — 
Can  Man  lose  or  merge  his  identity  in  the  God-head  —  A  mornful  yet  glorious 
fact  —  A  Home  for  All  —  All  bleeding,  breaking  hearts  —  All  weary,  sorrow- 
laden  souls  —  What  will  interest  every  Man  and  Woman  on  the  earth  —  Why 
a  Soul  cannot  be  dismembered  or  destroyed — Curious  —  Coming  Man  — 
Miscegenation,  or  the  Commingling  of  Peoples  —  The  Soul's  Flight  to  the 
Solar  Zone  and  Second  Grand  Girdle. 

Chap.  XVII.  Refutation  of  a  popular  Error  —  Has  an  unfortunate 
"  Social  Evil,"  an  immortal  soul  ?  —  Reply  —  A  Plea  for  the  Fallen. 

Appendix.  A  section  about  "Love  and  its  Hidden  History  —  Its  Ebbs  and 
Flows ;  its  Calms  and  Blows  —  Its  unsuspected  Mystery." 

The  profound  and  world-wide  importance  of  the  contents  of  these  sections 
cannot  be  over-estimated.  The  author  here  reveals  discoveries  regarding 
Sex,  Marriage,  their  abuses,  and  their  remedies,  which  are  indeed  surprising, 
and  of  which  the  world  has  never  dreamed  before.  Woman  may  henceforth 
cure  her  own  ills,  and  defy  sickness,  exhaustion,  and  lingering  death,  to  which 
far  too  many  of  her  sex  are,  from  unsuspected  causes,  exposed.  Let  it  be  well 
read  and  studied,  and  the  author  hopes  that  fewer  graves  of  the  prematurely 
dead  will  mark  the  churchyards  of  our  land,  and  fewer  wasted,  haggard  forms 
move  languidly  through  our  streets. 

IV. 

HERMES  MERCURIUS  TRISMEGISTUS ;  (Ter  Maximus !  King  of 
Egypt!  Melchizedek .')  His  Divine  Pymander.  His  First  Book ;  Pymandcr 
—  The  Spirit  from  the  Far  Heavens ;  The  Holy  Sermon ;  The  Key ;  That 
God  is  not  Manifest;  And  yet  most  Manifest;  God;  The  Song;  Truth; 
The  Crater ;   The  Divine  Mind. 

The  work  is  most  elegantly  gotten  up,  with  beautiful  type,  tinted  paper 
beveled  boards,  illuminated  title-page  and  cover;  and,  independent  of  its  con- 
tents, it  is  a  rare  ornament  to  any  library  in  the  land. 

This  most  ancient  and  glorious  book  ought  to  be  in  the  house  of  every 


11 

Christian,  moral  and  religious  person  in  the  land  —  especially  ministers.  Also 
in  those  of  scoffers,  doubters,  infidels  and  skeptics,  for  it  contains  what  can 
nowhere  else  be  found.  This  rare  and  superb  volume  also  contains  the  world- 
famous  Asiatic  Mystery  —  the  singular  and  astounding  belief  and  secret  doc- 
trines of  the  Rosicrucians,  Alchemists,  Hermetists  and  other  illuminati.  Also 
translations  from  the  Vedas ;  Brahm :  The  Song  of  Brahm ;  and  the  Smarag- 
dine  Table.  It  is  the  quintessence  of  transcendental  Spiritual  Philosophy,  and 
in  lofty  thought  and  pure  morality  stands  second  to  no  book  in  the  world. 
Price  $2.    Postage  free. 

V. 

PRE-AD AMITE  MAN :  The  Story  of  the  Human  Race  from  35,000  to 
100,000  Years  Ago. 

Fifth    edition    of    this    World-renowned    Classic,    on    Human  Antiquity. 
By  the  same  author. 

Conceded  in  France,  England,  and  America,  to  be  the  Ablest  "Work 

Extant,    on     the    Origin    of    Man;     his    Antiquity,    and     Diverse 

Sources  of  the  varied  Human  Races. 

Fifth  edition.  Demonstrating  the  existence  of  the  Human  Race  upon  the 
earth  100,000  years  ago.  "  A  remarkable  book."  "  We  hail  this  shot  from 
the  Fort  of  Truth !  Shows  that  men  built  cities  35,000  years  ago !  Extra 
valuable  volume."  "Great  grasp  of  thought!  Proves  Adam  was  not  the 
first  man,  nor  anything  like  it!  Engrossingly  interesting."  "The  literary 
and  philosophical  triumph  of  the  century,  written  by  one  of  that  century's 
most  remarkable  men." 
The  title   of  this   work  is   PRE-AD  AMITE  MAN:    The   Story   of  thb 

Human  Race  from  35,000  to  100,000  years  ago. 

When  the  gude  laird  was  making  Adam,  even  then  the  clan  Grant  was  as 
thick  and  numerous  as  the  heather  on  yon  hills  !  —  Bailie  Grant. 

I  need  not  ask  thee  if  that  hand,  when  armed, 

Has  any  Roman  soldier  mauled  or  knuckled; 
For  thou  wert  dead,  and  buried,  and  embalmed, 

Ere  Romulus  or  Remus  had  been  suckled. 
Antiquity  appears  to  have  begun 
Long  after  thy  primeval  race  was  run. 

Address  to  a  Mcmmy — Horace  Smith. 

Price,  $1.75.     Post  free  to  any  address. 

GENERAL  SYNOPSIS. 
Preface.  —  Authorities  consulted.    Dedication. 

PART  I.  —  Historico-Chronological. 

Introductory.  —  Adam  not  the  first  man.  Men  built  cities  in  Asia  35,000 
years  ago.  Luke  Burke  and  the  credibility  of  History.  The  Fate  of  Genius. 
The  New  York  "  Tribune  "  and  Leonard  Horner  on  Egyptian  Pottery  13,500 
years  old.  How  we  know  that  the  Egyptians  made  Pottery  7,500  years 
before  Adam's  date.  The  Artesian- Well  borings  of  the  French  Engineers  in 
the  Egyptian  Delta.  Discovery  of  the  colossal  statue  of  Rhampses  II.,  and 
what  followed  it.  Syncellus  and  the  Chaldean  Chronology,  stretching  back 
36,000  years.  Chinese  Kings  18,000  years  ago.  Pu-An  Ku,  the  original 
Chinaman,  created  129,600  years  ago. 

Chapter  I.  —  Adam,  Menes,  Egypt.  Menes  (Mizraim)  not  the  grandson 
of  Noah.  Rabbinical  Forgery  Demonstrated.  Herodotus  and  Manetho  — 
their  credulity  and  credibility.  The  First  Man,  according  to  the  Egyptians. 
Bunsen's  Deduction  that  civilized  men  inhabited  the  Nilotic  lands  over  20,000 
years  ago.  Persian  Chronology  —  Mahabad,  Jy  Affram,  God,  and  the  First 
Man.     A  Heathen's   Philosophy.     Who  built  Baalbec   and  the  Pyramids? 


12 

\ 

Did  God  or  the  gods  create  Adam?  Some  curious  suggestions.  Precarious 
foundation  of  Adam  and  the  Adamic  theory. 

Chap.  II.  —  Cain,  Cain's  wife,  Lamech's  wives  —  where  did  they  get  them? 
The  answer.  Pre-Adamitic  Nations  east  of  Eden.  Job ;  who  was  he  ?  — 
certainly  not  a  descendant  of  Adam.  Numerous  Scriptural  authorities 
establishing  the  existence  of  men  not  of  Adam's  race,  continued  in  other 
chapters. 

Chap.  III.  —  On  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  What  an  Indian  Chief  thought  of 
the  Shem,  Ham,  and  Japhet  tradition.  Bronze,  Steel,  and  Glass  4,800  years 
ago.  Are  Joppa,  Jerusalem,  Damascus,  Pre- Adamite  cities?  Philological 
observations.     Specimens  of  two  New  Languages  now  growing. 

Chap.  IV.  —  Spiritism,  Table-turning,  Rosicrucianism,  Philosopher's  Stone, 
and  Elixir  of  Life  3,000  years  ago.  Negro  Kings  of  Egypt.  Has  the  Negro 
ever  excelled  his  present  condition  ?  What  the  Monuments  of  Beni  Hassan 
say  about  it.  Is  Jehovah  (Iaveh)  and  Elohim  of  Genesis  the  Eternal  God,  or 
an  Oriental,  mythical  god  ?  The  two  accounts  of  Man's  Creation  from  Gen- 
esis, side  by  side.  Melchizadek,  and  who  he  probably  was.  The  Pentateuch. 
''  There  were  giants  in  those  days." 

Chap.  V.  —  "  Coasting  the  Headlands  of  Eternity."  A  charge  against  the 
Jewish  Rabbins.  Some  scriptual  corrections.  The  Kabala,  Adam,  Eve,  and 
the  Devil.  Eve's  Adultery.  Her  second  crime,  and  what  it  was.  The  sons 
of  Ish.  Berosus  and  the  Chaldean  Genesis.  A  fragment  of  Scandinavian 
Cosmology  from  the  Prose-Edda. 

Chap.  VI.  —  Cosmogonico-chronological.  Cataclysms.  63,000  years  of 
Chinese  History.  150,000  of  Japanese.  3,000,000  Brahminical.  Budhistic 
fabulous  eras.  The  site  of  Eden  and  of  Adam's  creation.  Date  of  Noah's 
Flood,  11,812  years  ago.  Egyptian  civilization  12,000  years  ago.  The 
original  story  of  the  Ark  and  Deluge.  The  original  Wrestling  Jacob.  The 
original  Israel.  Parallels  between  the  Bible  and  Oriental  Heroes  and  Events, 
and  identity  of  names,  etc.  Curious  light  on  the  Ages  of  the  Patriarchs. 
Sidon.  The  Priests  of  Sais.  The  New  Atlantic  Isle  and  Greek  History 
nearly  12,000  years  ago.  26,000  years  of  Human  History  vs.  35,0C0  years  of 
Civilization.     The  true  story,  philosophy,  date  and  effects  of  the  "Flood." 

A    NEW   AND    STARTLING    HYPOTHESIS. 


PART  II.    Ancient  Europe. 

Chap.  I.  Greece  and  Italy  older  than  Egypt.  The  Cyclopean  structures 
of  Southern  Europe.  The  Egyptian  Monuments.  Why  the  Pyramids  were 
built.     Pyramids  of  America.     Hieroglyphics.     New  Deductions. 

Chap.  II.  The  Rise  and  Fall,  the  Ebb  and  Flow  of  Empires.  Assyria, 
Chaldea,  Egypt,  Europe  Asia's  mother. 

Chap.  III.  The  stupendous  structures  of  Etruria ;  their  styles  indicate 
two  distinct  nations  of  antiquity  succeeding  each  other  on  the  same  spot,  with 
a  vast  interval  between. 

Chap.  IV.  The  Fictions  of  Chronology,  Ancient  and  Mediaeval.  The 
Artificial  and  Mythical  Characters  of  the  Principle  Epochs  of  Roman  History, 
Regal,  Republican  and  Imperial. 

Chap.  V.  Ten  thousand  years  of  Italic  tradition.  The  Errors  and  adjust- 
ments of  the  Roman  Year  and  Calendar,  from  Romulus  to  Pope  Gregory. 

Chap.  VI.  Silence  and  Ignorance  of  the  Clerical  Writers  relative  to  the 
most  important  and  curious  facts  of  so-called  Contemporaneous  History. 

Chap.  VII.     Ethnological.     The  Genesis  of  Nations. 

Chap.  VIII.  The  Gorilla  vs.  Man.  Is  the  latter  but  a  developed  form  of 
the  Mammalia?  or  is  he  the  initial  type  of  a  new  range  of  terrestrial  exist- 
ence—  of  a  new  class  and  kingdom  of  Nature?  If  the  latter,  what  a  future 
lies  before  him ! 


13 


PART  III.    Fossil  Man. 

Chap.  I.  Discovery  of  Human  Skeletons  in  the  West  Indies,  the  Kirkdale 
Cavern,  Quebec,  Caverne  de  Enghoule,  Florida,  and  elsewhere,  from  50,000 
to  150,000  years  old.     Human  Remains  from  Gravel  Hills.   "  Flint  Weapons." 

Chap.  II.  The  skeleton  of  a  Whale  found,  with  a  human  weapon,  in  a 
Scotch  hill.  The  fossil  Elks  and  human  bones  of  Ireland.  Human  remains 
and  Elephant's  teeth  found  in  non-tropical  climates,  indicating  an  age  of 
38,000  years  at  least.  Mr.  Koch  and  his  flint  arrow-heads  from  the  "Drift." 
Human  remains  found  in  a  Rocky  Mountain  gold  hill. 

Chap.  III.  John  Elliott  in  the  "  Geologist "  on  Fossil  Man,  and  remains 
found  in  Durham.  The  Heathery-Burn  Discoveries.  Professor  Huxley,  F. 
R.  S.,  on  the  celebrated  "Maskham  Skull."  The  Trent  Skull  and  its  dimen- 
sions. Human  remains  from  Neanderthal.  The  Belgian  Skull,  found  with 
the  Bones  of  Bears,  Hyenas  and  Elephants.  The  Massat  and  Mecklenburg 
Skeletons.  Dr.  Schauffhausen  on  the  "  Plau  Skeleton."  The  Mewslade 
Skull.  The  Sennen  Cranium.  The  Montrose  and  boat-shaped  human  skulls. 
The  Estham  Skull  and  its  measurement.  Skull  of  a  Gorilla  compared  with 
that  of  Man.  Skulls  from  Etruria,  and  their  dimensions.  Human  Bones  from 
Switzerland.  Copenhagen  fossil  skulls  compared  with  that  of  an  Ashantee 
Negro.  Professor  Owen  on  Ancient  Crania.  The  Engis  Skull,  "the  oldest 
record  of  man  on  earth."  The  Dolichocephalic  crania.  Apes,  Man,  Chim- 
panzees, Negroes,  Table  of  the  oldest  human  relics  found  with  fossil  mammalia. 
Table  of  Earliest  Evidences  of  the  Human.  Race. 

Chap.  IV.  Proceedings  of  various  Geological  Societies,  and  discoveries 
of  fossil  man  by  their  members.  "  Flints  in  the  Drift."  Liverpool,  Glasgow, 
three  skulls.  Prof.  Burk,  C.  C.  Blake,  and  S.  L.  Mackie  on  "  Human  Fossils." 
Joseph  Prestwick,  Esq.,  on  "  Fossil  Man."  The  human  remains  referable  to 
three  geological  ages  back  of  this  present !  John  Evans,  Paris,  Flint  Imple- 
ments. Criel,  Flint  Hatchets.  Rouen,  Clermont,  Human  Remains  and  Fossil 
Elephants,  Rhinoceros,  Oxen  and  Cats  found  five  hundred  and  forty  feet 
above  high-water  mark!  English  Human  Fossils.  C.  C.  Blake  on  "Past 
Life  in  South  America."  Indian  Giants.  Apes  as  large  as  Man.  Professor 
King  on  Natural  Selection.  Darwin's  Theory.  Dr.  Buckner  on  the  Monkey- 
origin  of  the  Negro  and  other  Men.  A  host  of  names  in  favor  of  the  "  Deriva- 
tive Theory."  Human  remains  in  Alluvium.  The  River-bed  Skeleton  !  The 
Leicester  Skull  and  its  measurement. 

Chap.  V.  Per  Contra  —  Prof.  Gras  v.  The  Geologist,  on  the  Antiquity 
of  Man. 

VI. 

THE  MYSTERIES  OF  THE  MAGNETIC  UNIVERSE.  Seekship. 
New  Edition.  A  wonderful  series  of  discoveries  for  self-development 
in  all  branches  of  Clairvoyance,  including  the  astonishing  agency  of  MAGIC 
MIRRORS ;  and  how  to  make  them. 

CONTENTS— Part  I. 
Somnambulistic  lucidity.  Genuine  clairvoyance  a  natural  birthright.  Two 
sources  of  light,  astral  and  magnetic.  Why  mesmerists  fail  to  produce  clair- 
voyance in  their  "  subjects."  Vinegared  water,  magnets  and  tractors  as  agents 
in  its  production.  Specific  rules.  Clairvoyance  is  not  spiritualism.  Most 
"clairvoyants"  arrant  swindlers,  quacks,  impostors.  The  false  and  the  true. 
Psychometry  and  intuition  are  not  clairvoyance.  Mesmeric  circles.  Eight 
kinds  of  Clairvoyance !  Mesmeric  coma  and  magnetic  trance.  The  differ- 
ence. Effect  of  lung  power.  Effect  of  amative  passion  on  the  seer.  Dangers 
to  women  who  are  mesmerized.  Oriental,  European,  and  American  methods. 
The  mirror  of  ink.  How  to  mesmerize  by  a  common  looking-glass.  The 
insulated  stool.     The  electric  or  magnetic  battery.     The  bar  magnet.     The 


14 

horse-shoe  magnet.  Phantasmata,  Chemism.  "Why  "Spirits "are  said  to 
take  subjects  away  from  magnetizers.  Curious.  Black  Magic.  Voudoo 
("Hoodoo")  spells,  charms,  projects.  Very  Strange!  "Love  Powders." 
The  sham,  and  the  terrible  dangers  of  the  real.  How  they  are  fabricated. 
Astounding  disclosures  concerning  Voudooism  in  Tennessee.  Proofs.  The 
cock,  the  conches,  the  triangle,  the  herbs,  the  test,  the  spell,  the  effect,  the 
wonderful  result.  White  science  baffled  by  black  magic!  Mrs.  A.,  the  Doc- 
tor, and  the  Voudoo  Chief.  Explanation  of  the  mystery.  The  degrees  of 
Clairvoyance  and  how  to  reach  them.  The  road  to  power,  love,  and  money. 
Self-mesmerism.  Mesmerism  in  ancient  Egypt,  Syria,  Chaldea,  Nineveh,  and 
Babylon  thousands  of  years  ago.  Testimony  of  Lepsius,  Botta,  Rawlings, 
Horner,  Bunsen,  Champollion  and  Mariette.  The  Phantorama.  Advice  to 
seekers  after  Seership. 

PART  II.  —  The  Magnetic  Mirror  and  its  uses. 

Dr.  Dee  and  his  magic  mirror.  Strange  things  seen  in  it.  Not  a  spiritual 
juggle.  George  Sand.  The  Count  St.  Germain,  and  the  Magic  Mirror  or 
Spirit-Seeing  glass.  Jewels  used  for  the  same  purposes.  Hargrave  Jennings 
(the  Rosicrucian),  On  fire.  Curious  tilings  of  the  outside  world,  and  divine 
illumination.  Cagliostro  and  his  Magic  Mirror.  Frederick  the  Great  Crystal- 
seeing  Count.  American  Mirror  Seers.  Dr.  Randolph,  in  April,  '69,  predicts 
the  Gold  panic  of  September.  Its  literal  fulfilment.  Business  men  use  mir- 
rors to  forestall  the  markets.  Their  singular  magic.  Better  and  more  effec- 
tive than  animal  magnetism.  Why.  Extraordinary  method  of  holding  a 
psycho-vision  steady  as  a  picture.  Two  kinds  of  mirrors.  Crystals.  The 
pictures  seen  in  a  magic  mirror  are  not  on  or  in,  but  above  it.  Dangers  of 
"  Spirit  control."  Facts.  Theory.  Constructors  of  magic  mirrors.  Fail- 
ures. Success.  Chemistry  of  mirrors.  The  Life  of  Dream  and  the  Street 
of  Chances.  The  Past,  Present,  and  Future  are  actually  now,  because  there 
can  be  no  future  to  Omniscience.  The  future  embosomed  in  the  Ether,  and 
he  who  can  penetrate  that  can  scan  unborn  events  in  the  womb  of  coming 
time.  It  can  be  done,  is  done,  and  will  be  by  all  who  have  the  right  sense. 
Sir  David  Brewster,  Salverte,  Iamblichus  and  Damascius.  A  magic  mirror 
stance  extraordinary.  The  Emperor  Basil's  son  is  brought  to  his  father  in  a 
magic  glass  by  Theodore  Santa  Baren.  Mr.  Roscoe's  account  of  a  strange 
adventure  of  Benvenuto  Cellini.  What  death  really  is.  A  new  theory  !  The 
phantasmagoria  of  real  things.  Absorption.  Its  use  and  meaning.  Platonic 
theory  of  vision.  Theory  of  spiritual  sight.  Magic  and  magnetic,  one  and  the 
same.  Statement  of  the  seven  magnetic  laws  of  Love.  The  blonde  wife  re- 
wins  her  straying  brunette  husband  from  a  brunette  rival  —  from  a  blonde  ri- 
val. Polarities.  Caressive  love.  The  antagonal  polar  law  of  love.  Back- 
thrown  love.  A  singular  principle.  Egyptians.  Magic  mirrors.  Mrs.  Pool 
and  Mr.  Lane's  testimony.  How  a  maiden  discovers  a  lover  —  a  rival  — 
a  wrong-doer.  Awful  magnetic  power  of  an  injured  woman's  "  magnetic 
prayer."  Oriental  widow  finds  a  husband — having  seen  him  —  never  having 
seen  him.  "The  Master  Passion."  "After  Death."  Rules  and  laws  of 
magic  mirrors.  How  to  clean  and  charge  them  magnetically.  The  Grand 
Master,  De  Novalis.  The  celebrated  "  Trinius  "  Japanese  magic  crystal  globe 
of  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

The  price  of  this  work  has  been  fixed  at  three  dollars.  It  is  the  only  work 
on  the  subject  now  extant  in  the  English  language,  and  incontestably  excels 
either  the  French,  German,  Arabic,  Syriac,  Hindostanee,  or  the  Chaldaic 
treatises  upon  the  same  topic,  and  is  probably  the  fullest  and  most  perfect  com- 
pilation and  exposition  of  the  principia  of  the  sublime  science  ever  penned.  A 
work  of  this  extraordinary  character  is  indeed  rare.  By  the  terms  made 
those  who  want  it  must  avail  themselves  of  this  chance  at  once  !  It  can  only 
be  had  direct  from  our  office. 


15 


VII. 

2  Vols,  in  1. 

THE  WONDEEFUL   STOEY   OF  EAV ALETTE. 

Also,    The    Eosicrucian's   Story.      Fourth  edition.      Two   vols,   in   one. 

$1.75.    Post  free. 

"  A  Thrilling  and  Magnetic  Volume."     "  "We  admire  the  Genius  who 

WROTE  THESE  WORKS."  "A  EOSICRUCIAN  EOMANCE,  AND  THE  MOST  EX- 
TRAORDINARY and  Thrilling  Work  ever  published  in  this  country." 
This  is  a  12mo,  396  pp.,  one  of  the  most 'wonderful  books  we  ever  read; 
written  in  plain,  vigorous  English,  and  cannot  fail  to  interest  any  reader  who 
has  a  love  for  the  marvellous.  It  is  more  exciting  in  its  incidents  than  Bui 
wer's  "Strange  Story;"  throws  into  the  shade  the  writings  of  the  German 
mystics ;  and  yet  the  thread  of  the  story,  from  beginning  to  end,  is  nevei 
broken  or  stretched  beyond  the  range  of  probability.  Admit  the  author's 
premises,  and  he  will  carry  the  reader  along  with  him  through  all  his  strange 
reasonings  and  descriptions.  As  a  mere  story,  independent  of  its  peculiar 
views,  it  transcends  in  interest  all  of  the  mystical  literature  of  the  present 
day.  De  Foe's  inimitable  "  Life  of  Duncan  Campbell"  is  not  more  fascinat- 
ing. —  Boston  Traveller. 

VIII. 

Now  Eeady.    Extraordinary  and  Thrilling  "Work! 

SOUL! 

The  Soul-World  :  the  Homes  of  the  Dead. 

The  Human  Soul;  what  it  is;  whence  it  came;   its  location  in  the 
body  ;   its  passage  through  death  ;   whither  it  goes  after  death  ; 
what  it  does  ;   how  it  lives  !     marriage  ln  the  soul-world  !     off- 
SPRING there  !     Eating,    drinking,    sleeping,    after   we    are    dead  ! 
do  souls  occupy  space?     does  a  soul  feel  heat,  cold,  get  wet  ln 
a   storm?      What   becomes   of    Dead    Children?      of  Idiots?    Lu- 
natics ?      Premature  Births  ?      Heaven  !      Hell  !      Their  nature  and 
location,  with  scores  of  equally  important  and  profound  questions,  are  all 
answered  in  this  most  extraordinary  and  entirely  original  volume. 
This  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful  books  ever  printed  in  this  country  or  any- 
where  else.     The   author  is  well  known  to  be  one  of  the  most  vigorous 
thinkers,  sterling  writers,  and  most   graphic   delineators,  especially  of  the 
occult,  the  weird,  and  psychological,  now  on  the  stage  of  literary  life ;  while, 
as  a  describer  of  the  inner  halls  of  being,  a  picturer  forth  of  the  soul's  deep- 
est mysteries,  no  writer  has  ever  surpassed,  and  but  few,  if  any,  ever  equalled 
this  wonderfully  gifted  author.     "  Spiritualism,"  with  all  its  declared  revela- 
tions from  the  so-called  departed,  has  not  yet  produced  anything  that  can 
begin  to  be  compared  with  this  book.     People  who  want  to  know  what  a 
soul  really  is;  whereabouts  in  the  body  it  holds  its  seat;  how  it  THINKS, 
FEELS,  MOVES,  LOOKS,   is  looked  at;  how  it  goes  out  and  comes  in; 
how  it  sleeps  ;  how  the  body  dies ;  how  the  soul  escapes  it ;  where  it  goes  to, 
and  what  it  does  ;  how  it  loves,  marries  ;  offspring  in  the  other  world,  etc., 
—  should  not  fad  to  read  this  book.     A  revelation  made  by  the  dead  to  the 
dying,  by  means  of  a  process,  most  fearful  and  strange.     The  chapters  on 
"The  winged  Globe,"  "  The  Flight,"  and  "The  Pre-existence  and  Transmi- 
gration of  Souls,"  are  each  in  itself  worth  the  price  of  the  book.     When  it 
was  announced  that  this  work  was  about  to  be  published,  the  advanced  demand 
called  for  an  extra  edition  of  3,000  copies;   and  still  the  orders  come. 
Price,  $2.00.     Postage  free. 


16 


SYNOPSIS. 

A  dying  woman  makes  a  promise  that,  if  possible,  she  will  come  back  after 
death,  and  reveal  the  mysteries  of  the  land  beyond  the  grave.  She  keeps  her 
promise.  The  second  part  of  the  work  relates  the  experiences  of  a  man,  who, 
for  a  time,  was  completely  disenthralled  of  his  body.  An  interesting  phe- 
nomenon. Two  souls  in  one  body.  How  dead  people  live,  and  where! 
The  Blending !  How  a  living  person  thinks  a  dead  one's  thoughts !  In- 
visible beings,  with  human  characteristics,  who  never  lived  on  earth!  The 
mysterious  prophecy  of  a  disembodied  soul.  What  the  dead  lady  discovered 
in  regard  to  sound,  soul,  and  spirit,  after  death.  A  curious  thing  regarding 
light  and  darkness.  She  discerns  two  phantoms  from  behind  a  mystic  veil. 
Difficulty  of  going  between  the  three  worlds !  Souls  existent  from  all  past 
time.  Pre-existence.  "  The  souls  were  clothed  in  garments.  Do  they  feel 
the  weight  of  years?  "  Three  grand  discoveries.  The  dead  lady  experiences 
difficulty  in  getting  out  of  the  door;  a  terrible  alternative  ;  "  I  must  wait  till 
the  house  decays !  "  Another  grand  discovery  —  a  universe  within  a  room. 
The  Vastitude  !  An  important  discovery  — hills,  lakes,  valleys,  and  rivers  in 
the  soul.  Death,  life.  Something  nobler  than  intellect.  Difference  between 
the  spirit-land  and  the  soul-world.  Her  strange  sense  joys.  Something 
worth  knowing  by  all  who  expect  to  die.  The  dead  lady's  organs;  "her 
hands  are  blue  and  wrinkled,  her  cheeks  are  pale  and  haggard."  She  falls 
into  a  singular  state.  Her  passage  from  the  spirit-land  to  the  soul-world. 
Finds  herself  in  a  new  realm ;  a  miracle.  The  law  of  images.  How  the 
future  is  read.  What  material  a  disembodied  soul's  clothing  is  made  o£ 
Where  the  dead  lady  was  :  a  new  universe.  What  animals  really  are.  Con- 
cerning the  origin  of  the  human  soul.  Its  pre-existence.  Why  beasts  are, 
and  are  not,  at  the  same  time,  immortal. 

The  Story  of  a  Soul  before  it  occupied  the  Human  Form! 
Where  it  originated;  how  it  started  out  upon  its  journey.  The  Bath  of  Fire. 
The  burial ;  the  rock ;  the  earthquake.  The  chain  from  moss  to  man.  Why 
gorillas  and  apes  resemble  men  ;  why  the  latter  are  immortal  and  the  former 
not.  The  transmigration  of  Souls.  The  Soul-Republic.  A  mystery. 
Heaven  and  hell ;  their  nature.  The  dead  lady  describes  her  dress  and  her 
person.  The  meaning  of  the  word  love.  Do  phantoms  grow  ?  A  singular 
law  governing  the  dead.  The  harlot  in  the  Phantorama.  What  befalls  those 
who  never  become  wives  and  mothers.  The  dreadful  sentence :  "  To  be 
alone !  "  The  child  and  its  mother,  and  what  befalls  many  a  dead  father ;  a 
thing  well  worth  studying.  Why  spiritual  mediums  are  lonely  and  unhappy ! 
Something  that  is  neither  mind,  matter,  nor  spirit.  The  material  whereof 
thoughts  are  made.  How  a  woman  can  always  tell  whether  she  is  loved 
truly  or  not,  whether  the  lover  be  dead  or  alive.  Organization  and  destiny. 
Valuable  —  especially  to  sensitives.  How  they  become  mediums  —  are  be- 
set by  people  of  the  mid  regions  of  space  —  and  what  comes  of  it.  The  con- 
sequences of  making  compacts  with  the  unholy  dead.  Mediums  and  their 
friends.  Ethereal  asps,  toads,  serpents.  Why  mediums  blow  hot  and  cold 
in  the  same  breath.  Comparative  value  of  diverse  methods  of  dealing  with 
the  dead.  Will  the  loving  living  ever  meet  the  loved  dead?  Yes!  no!  why? 
the  answer.  Why  children  of  the  same  parents  are  not  always  brother  and 
sister.  A  mystery  and  its  solution.  How  the  loving  dead  can  elevate  the 
loved  living.  Man  and  the  iceberg.  How  hell  loses  its  inhabitants,  and 
whither  they  go.  A  thornless  route  to  the  Soul-worlds.  The  philosophers 
on  the  corner.  The  picture  and  the  voice ;  what  it  said.  What  is  inside  of 
every  tree  and  flower.  How  deformed  people  look  when  fairly  dead.  Shoot- 
ing a  soul.  The  archway  to  the  Soul-world;  she  passes  through  it;  a  fete  in 
heaven.  Cottages,  palaces,  graves,  flowers,  birds,  and  animals  in  the  Soul- 
world;  musical  trees.  She  discourses  about  "  eternal  affinities,"  and  dissects 
that  doctrine.  Marriage  here  and  there.  Why  love  is  often  here  a  one- 
sided affair.     Her  own  laye  and  lover ;  the  meeting  of  the  spheres,  and  the 


17 


strange  thrills  that  danced  through  her  being.  She  crosses  the  threshold  of  a 
third  universe.  Curious  analogies.  A  man  creates  a  world.  A  beautifu? 
law;  a  mystery,  and  its  explanation;  a  sublime  view,  and  a  new  one,  of 
Deity,  and  His  attributes.  She  declares  that  "  the  material  universe,  with 
all  its  countless  starry  systems,  is,  after  all,  but  a  little  island,  which,  like  an 
eggshell  on  a  lake,  floats  upon  the  crest  of  a  single  wavelet  of  this  infinite 
sea  of  Spirit."  Soul  weaving.  The  loom  and  the  fabric.  Spiritual  locomo- 
tives, and  how  they  are  built.  Society  in  the  Star-land.  Mahomet ;  how 
each  Islamite  is  blessed  with  seventy  thousand  wives,  and  where  the  ladies 
come  from;  very  curious,  and  true.  Sex,  and  its  uses  on  earth;  a  curious 
revelation.  "Up  amongst  the  dead  folks."  How  a  man  on  earth  may  really 
be  a  woman  there,  and  vice  versa.  Singular  divorces  in  the  Soul-world.  A 
penny's  worth  of  wit ;  a  dollar's  worth  of  common  sense.  A  sure  test  by 
which  any  woman  can  tell  whether  what  is  offered  her  be  love  or  its  counter- 
feit. How  those  who  fancy  there  is  no  hell  hereafter  will  find  themselves  mis- 
taken ;  something  hotter  than  fire  and  brimstone.  She  desires  to  look  into 
Gehenna,  and  her  wish  is  gratified.  She  gazes  into  the  Gulf  of  Horrors. 
The  crown  of  snakes.  Lakes  of  burning  fire,  and  hundreds  of  souls  therein. 
The  constituents  of  the  flames.  Atheists,  drunkards,  gamblers.  Do  souls 
exist  eternally,  or  are  they  finally  absorbed  into  Deity  ?  The  answer.  Are 
idiots  immortal?  The  reply.  Monsters,  one  only  of  whose  parents  are 
human;  are  they  immortal?  The  response.  Malformed  monsters,  both  of 
whose  parents  are  human ;  are  they  immortal?  The  answer.  A  woman  may 
bear  a  human  body  without  a  soul.  How  ?  The  conditions  essential  to  im- 
mortality. What  becomes  of  a  wasted  soul  germ  t  Are  abortions  immortal  ? 
Answer:  "Some."  "When,  which?  How  are  we  to  tell  when?  The  reply. 
Why  some  disembodied  souls  are  compelled  to  dwell  near  earth.  Sometimes 
a  child  is  born  with  two  heads,  or  two  bodies ;  are  there  two  souls  also  ?  The 
answer.  Can  a  virgin  bear  a  child  ?  Yes.  Explanation.  Are  children  born 
—  do  the  sexes  cohabit  in  the  soul-worlds  ?  The  answer.  Extraordinary 
statement  concerning  the  results  of  spiritual  intercourse.  The  hierarchy  of 
the  skies;  the  ascending  orders  of  disembodied  beings,  and  their  rank  and 
names.  The  dead  lady  declares  space  to  be  bounded,  and  tells  what  the 
Nebulae  is.  Man's  final  destiny.  The  omniscient  faculty  of  man.  Two  hours 
in  the  Soul-world.     Climbing  up  the  sky. 

Part  Second. 

The  thrilling  experience  of  a  soul  disenthralled  for  a  time  from  the  tram- 
mels of  the  body.  There  can  be  not  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  but  that  the 
one  hundred  and  twenty  pages  comprising  the  conclusion  of  this  book  con- 
tains more  information  on  the  subject  of  the  soul — its  looks,  nature,  habits, 
moods,  powers,  phases,  capacities,  location,  origin,  destiny,  and  characteris- 
tics—  than  any  work  ever  before  issued  from  the  press  of  this  or  any  other 
country.  State  of  the  dead ;  their  powers  and  methods  of  return.  The  dream 
state,  spiritual  state,  and  "Hashish"  state  compared.  How  a  person  feels 
when  dying.  The  disenthrallment.  Invisible  men.  The  exact  seat  of  the 
human  soul. 

The  Winged  Globe.     Pre-existence  of  the  Human  Soul. 

The  difference  between  spirit,  soul,  and  matter.  How  a  man's  spirit  looks ; 
its  color.  Description  of  an  actual,  veritable  human  soul.  Its  size.  The 
process  of  thinking  described.  The  lone  student.  The  silent  language. 
The  man  meets,  and  is  instructed  by  a  dead  Egyptian.  "Where  the  soul  goes, 
and  what  it  does  when  a  person  is  asleep,  both  sound  and  when  dreaming. 
Souls  get  tired;  their  curious  way  of  resting.  The  soul  will  one  day  have  no 
body  at  all;  will  be  bodiless.  The  "  Under  God."  Difference  between  males 
and  men,  females  and  women.  He  ascends ;  the  two  souls  get  caught  in  a 
thunder-storm.     Do  spirits  get  wet  ?    Are  they  affected  by  wind,  rain,  fire, 


18 

cold,  water?  The  question  solved.  The  fierce  lightnings  play  around  them; 
the  horror.  Can  a  hurricane  blow  away  a  spirit  ?  The  reply.  The  Egyptian 
speaks  to  him.  An  eloquent  description  of  a  tempest  in  the  air.  The  repub- 
lic of  souls.  The  shapes  of  various  thoughts  —  very  singular.  The  starry 
alphabet,  and  its  letters.  The  Egyptian  puts  a  tremendous  question,  which  he 
attempts  to  answer.  Nature.  The  Rosicrucians.  Personality  of  Deity. 
He  is  still  creating  worlds ;  and  of  what  these  worlds  are  made.  He  hears 
a  wondrous  music-voice  in  the  air.  The  extraordinary  tilings  it  spoke.  A 
glorious  sentence  as  ever  was  written.  He  sees  the  speaker  —  a  magnificent 
woman,  and  wonders  if  her  husband  does  not  come  to  deep  grief  on  her  ac- 
count. Jealousy ;  the  lady  talks  about  love.  A  masterly  analysis  of  the 
constituents  of  heaven,  and  of  the  human  soul.  A  splendid  definition.  The 
fread  soul  fears  he  shall  fall  down  and  be  dashed  to  nonenity.  "All  things 
ligaver  than  air  must  ascend."  A  spirit  is  lighter  than  air ;  how,  therefore, 
can  it  descend  through  air,  which  is  denser  than  itself?  A  series  of  very 
frequent  questions  concerning  the  "physique"  of  the  soul  are  answered.. 
What  a  human  spiritual  body  is  made  of.  Can  a  flame  be  iioaked  in  water  ?/ 
The  magnetic  sun  and  electric  moon,  in  the  human  body  —  very  singular ; 
something  for  the  philosophers.  A  soul  passes  through  a  cold  three  thousand 
degrees  below  zero,  without  being  affected.  Its  fire-proof  nature.  Why 
Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abednego  did  not  get  burned  up.  Definition  of  a 
Monad.  How  the  soul  gets  into  the  body  prior  to  birth.  The  process 
described.  Size,  color,  and  shape  of  a  soul-germ.  Ghosts  —  real  ghosts  — . 
graveyard  ones.  Their  natrre.  How  to  catch  the  spiritual  body  of  a  plant 
or  flower.  A  startling  assertion :  the  oak,  acorn,  and  man.  Dreams  and 
dreaming.  Visions.  Where  the  soul  goes,  and  what  it  does  when  we  sleep. 
If  dogs  dream,  have  they  therefore  souls?  Reply.  Do  souls  eat  and  drink? 
The  answer.  The  disenthralled  one  returns  to  his  body.  The  slumber; 
the  awakening.  How  long  it  takes  a  soul  to  go  from  one  state  to  the  other ; 
and  the  number  of  these  states.  Children  begotten  and  born  in  the  spirit- 
world;  their  nature.  Man,  like  God,  had  no  beginning.  The  soul's  form. 
Do  dead  infants  have  spiritual  bodies?  Reply.  How  and  when  every  man's 
soul  leaves  his  body  without  Ins  knowing  it.  How  a  man  can  be  seen  in  two 
places  at  the  same  time.  Are  there  demons ?  Answer:  two  kinds.  Expla- 
nation. The  "  Commune  Spirit,"  —  a  fearful  truth  —  and  its  statement. 
Common  Sense  versus  Public  Opinion.  Adultery.  Murder.  Conscience. 
Remorse.     The  choking. 

Part  III.     Thought. 

Necessity  of  Antagonism.  The  Baptism  of  Fire.  "Sneers."  The  old  and 
the  new.  The  Soul  greater  than  Laws.  Truth  to  Self.  The  True  Prayer 
and  Creed.  Final  results  unknown.  Soul  moods.  Matter  a  form  of  Life 
—  Death  a  misnomer.  The  Source  of  Life.  True  Liberty.  Definition  of 
Deity.  The  Egyptian  and  the  Jew.  Comets;  what  they  really  are.  A 
Latter-day  Sermon,  and  what  it  was.  The  Path!!  A  Latter-day  Sermon; 
Text:  Hearts!  —  a  Journey  through  Hell,  and  what  I  saw  there;  very  re- 
markable !  The  voice  of  the  Inner  Me.  Tim  Jenkins'  Soul,  and  what  came 
of  it.  Approximate  Gods.  St.  Trueman's  journey  through  Damphulania. 
The  Phantom  Gambler !  a  thrilling  occurrence.  Pre-existence.  Men  in  exist- 
ence twenty  billion  years  old.     A  new  Definition  of  the  Supreme. 

This  extraordinary  book  contains  the  celebrated  Recantation  Sekmon  of 
Randolph,  preached  in  Clinton  Hall,  N.  Y.,  in  1858;  and  concludes  with  the 
still  more  extraordinary  Asiatic  Mystery ;  being  the  secret  belief  and  creed 
of  the  Chief  of  the  Rosicrucians. 


19 


IX. 

DREAMS  AND  THEIR  MEANING.     Over   3,000  solutions  of  dreams  col- 
lected from  all  languages ;  the  largest  list  of  the  kind  in  the  world.     Price, 
50  cents. 
The  more  you  know  this  book,   the  better  you  will  like   it  —  particularly 

young  people ;   for  by  observing  the  note  on  page  6,  a  world  of  surprises  are 

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X. 

THE  ROSICRUCIAN    SYMPH;  ok,    PREDICTIVE    CHART    OF  THE 
COMING  DAYS  OF  ANY  GIVEN  HUMAN  BEING.      $1.00.   Post  free. 

XI. 

All  persons  who  have  read  any  of  these  works,  "  Dealings  with  the  Dead," 
"Love,  and  its  Hidden  History,"  "The  master  Passion,"  "Seership;  or, 
the  Magnetic  Mirror,"  "After  Death;  or,  the  Disembodiment  of  Man," 
"Pre- Adamite  Man,"  "  Ravalette,"  "  The  Rosicrucian's  Story,"  especially, 
may  have  wondered  at  the  Strange  Machinery,  and  Persona?  of  those 
two  works,  and  the  sources  of  power  hinted  at  in  all  the  others,  and  have 
vainly  tried  to  unravel  the  mystery.  To  all  such  we  say  that  the  Rosicrucians 
and  their  very  extraordinary  system  is  no  myth,  albeit  in  two  of  those  books 
many  things  are  veiled,  and  symbolize  deeper  meanings.  We  now  desire  to 
call  attention  to 


THE  ASIATIC   MYSTERY. 

The  Fire-Faith  !  The  Religion  of  Flame  !  The  Force  of  Love  ! 
The  Energos  of  will!  The  Formative  Force  of  Fire  and  Matter  ! 
The  Oneness  of  Soul,  and  God,  and  the  Flame  force  of  the  Universe! 
The  Magic  of  Polar  Mentality  !  The  Location  of  Soul  within  the 
Human  Body, 

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millions  of  suffering  wives  and  (husbands  too),  by  the  exercise  of  three 
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Announcement. 


AN    EXTRAORDINARY    AND    THRILLING    WORK,    Bt    the    samb 

RARELY  GIFTED  AUTHOR,    IS   NOW  BEING   PREPARED   FOR   PRESS   AND  WILL 
BE   READY  IN  MARCH,    1872,    ENTITLED 

DHOULA  BEL: 

The  Magic  Globe;   A  Romance  of  the  Shadow  and  the  Light. 

i 
A  most  intensely  interesting  volume,  and  all  the  more  so  in  that  it  is  mainly 
autobiographical,  and  tells  more  of  Mr.  Randolph's  inner  history,  and 
displays  more  phases  of  his  genius  than   any  other  single  work  of  his  yet 
issued. 

SYNOPSIS.— Book  I. 

The  Book  and  its  characters  —  a  forecast  of  marvels.  New  York  in  1827. 
Dutch  Phlegm  and  English  Blood.  City  Fathers.  No.  70  Canal  street. 
The  House  and  its  Tenant.  The  Spell  —  the  Magic  Glance.  A  Persian  on 
th^  "  EvilEye."  Curious.  Lefebre  on  Ghosts.  How  a  man  feels  about  being 
hung.  The  Mysterious  Stranger.  The  Storm  of  '27,  and  what  came  of  it. 
What  it  is  to  be! The  Manuscript  —  the  other  side  of  Time.  Extraordi- 
nary narrative  of  Dhoula  Bel.     About  the  Milky  Way.     Good  and  Evil.     The 

Secret  that  commands  success.     What  the  Veiled  One  said.     Curious. 

The  Mysterious  Interruption.  The  Stormy  Revel.  "  Worse  than  Crime." 
"  She  was  Stopped  by  the  Gate  of  a  Bridge."     "  I  am  ready,  Lord."     The  flight 

of  the   Cross.     Thrilling  event  in  Flora's   room ! The   Eye  of  Flame ! 

Dhoula  Bel,  — his  tripod  and  Magic  Globe  —  Wonderful.  Prophecy,  Temp- 
tation  and   Promise.      Discovery.     The   Dialogue.      The  three   Invisibles. 

Why  Cain  Fell ! Flora's  Narrative.     The  Past.     The  tufted  footfall  and  the 

Phantom  child.  The.Star  Uralmia  —  its  office  —  the  Mystic  Sleep  of  Sialam. 
Gods  and  Devils.  Fate  of  Genius.  Intellect.  She  yields.  Dhoula  Bel  tri- 
umphs.  The  Early  Days.     Newport,  R.  I.     How  to   make  a  Pedigree. 

The  Phantom  Shallop  and  its  oarsman.    A  Philosopher  on  "  Marriage."    "  I've 

played  the  game  of  life  twice  over." The  Warning  Voice.  —  "  The  man's 

invisible ! "  Superstition  and  a  Sunset  Scene.  Doubts.  Experience  vs. 
Enthusiasm.     The  Caterpillar's  Dream  —  the  Butterfly's    Bridal  —  Swallows 

vs.   Esthetics The  Old  Stone  Mill  at  Newport,  tremendous  occurrences 

thereat.  A  strangely  weird  adventure.  The  descent  into  Hell.  The  radiant 
zones  of  the  abyss.  How  Art  flourishes  down  below.  Its  King.  Strange 
Marvels. —  A  Change.  Council  of  the  Hours.  A  power  behind  the  Throne. 
The  Mystic  Arch.  Dreaming,  and  Moral  Epidemics.  A  tear  and  two  baskets 
of  fruit.     Diablerie,     The  warning  voice.     The   hand  of  Iron.     The  fright 

Two  hours  in  the  Mill.     A  Castle  lighter  than  Air —  Its  mysteries.     The 

Phantom's  Song.  Seng  of  the  eight  Mystic  Gates.  The  Mystic  Sleep. 
A  Rose-Cross  Doctrine.  The  Scroll.  The  Veil.  The  Ghostly  Child.  Sec- 
ond Sight.  The  Willow  Song.  The  Phantascope.  The  Youth.  Story 
of  a  life  in  ten  lines.  .  .  .  The  Congress  in  the  Sky.  The  Rival  Powers. 
Logic  infernal,  yet  true.  The  Swoon.  Surprise.  The  Transmutation  of 
Metals.      The   Mysterious  one. The    Red   Gnome's   Chaunt.      Spectra. 

20 


21 

Strange  truths.  Super-mor!al  Power.  Anthropology.  A  new  theory.  A 
magnificent  revelation  concerning  Souls. —  Solution  of  a  mighty  problem. 
Germs  and  Gems  of  thought  for  future  thinkers.     Origin  of  the  first  man  — 

The   process   —  The   Humaka. Extraordinary   display  of  Magic  —  The 

Koran  —  The  Rings  —  Free  Will :  very  strange.  The  Battle  of  Life.  The 
River-Passage,  and  the   Bridge.     The  example  and  the  triumph.     The  fate 

of  Genius. The  temptation  and  death.     The  descent  into  Hell.     "Mene 

Tekel."  The  Ghostly  Boat.  The  Gorgeous  Vision.  Description  of  Death ; 
how  it  is  swallowed  up  in  Victory.     Strange  talk  from  a  Devil.     A  dark 

thing  cleared  up The  Son.     The   ascent  through  the  Poles. 

Disappearance  of  the  Wizard.  Five  years  after.  Mother  and  Child.  The 
only  possibility  of  escape.     The  Power  of  circumstance.     Lapse  of  years. 

Change  of  fortune.     The  Gamblers The  Mystic  Drama.     A 

terrific   adventure.     A  trip  into   Cuba.     A  noon-tide   sleep   and  its   conse-  J 
quences.     How  did  he   get  there?     The   Hermit.     Who  was  he?     Mysterj 
Thickens.     Singular  lapse  of  time.     The  Juggler,  Hermit,  and  Dhoula  Bel 

are  one.     Ambition's  Birth.     Triumph  of  the  Tempter The 

Magic  Globe.  The  Chaunt,  the  Scroll,  the  Invocation.  The  Lost  Moment. 
A  Mystery  not  solvable  without  the  key.  A  series  of  marvellous  transac- 
tions.  Africa.      The   Phantasm  —  very   singular.      The   clipper  and  the 

Brig  of  War  — the  chase.  The  beautiful  quadroon  —  the  grotto  — its  roof — 
"  I  will,"  cause,  effect,  agencies.     Immortality.     Love.     The  Siren.     Hope. 

It  was  not  all  a  dream. Cuba.     England.     The  awakening.     A  Soul  looks 

forth.  The  two  gifts  of  jewels  !  The  Rosicrucians.  Their  Mission.  "  What 
may  be."  Shadow.  Light.  The  double  apparition.  Baffled.  Malediction. 
Back  to  Cuba.  More  mystery.  The  sailor  lad.  Three  years  after  —  by  the 
editor.     Duello  Extraordinaire !     Announcement  of  the  drama. 

Book  II.  The  Drama. —  Change  of  characters.  The  butcher  of  the  Rue- 
du  cherche-midi — Paris —  A  canine  convention.  Association  of  ideas —  French  ! 
General  Blum.  Total  depravity.  Instances.  Retaliations.  Cleparsse  and 
Ms  foes.  Blum's  tongue  runs  too  fast,  but  proves  him  a  philosopher. Ex- 
traordinary persons  and  events.  Who's  who  ?  Gonnel's  grief.  Commotion 
among  the  "  ton."  Maurice  the  hunchback.  The  dream  and  its  interpreter. 
Le  Moniteur.  "  To  the  rescue."  Concerning  sheep.  Blum's  Fable.  Jus- 
tice, the  bees,  Nature  and  the  bear.  Hatred  begets  itself.  The  bottle  of 
cuMets.  Ponto  the  dog.  Boiled  Beef  vs.  Raw  Mutton.  In  trait  vast.  Airy 
vo«ces.      Day-ghosts.     Little  Winnie.     The  combat.     Tetanus  —  a  cure  for. 

Tl>e   schemers   and  the   scheme. The  sacred   sheep.     The  wager.     The 

question.  Result.  Maurice  and  the  gypsy  girl.  Paris  et  ses  environs.  La 
Plaissance.  A  girl's  thoughts.  "  And  the  voice  said,  '  Move  on.'  " Eaves- 
dropping.    Plot  thickens.      Childhood's    sleep. Alaric.       Sympathy. 

Antipathy.  Mystery.  A  Paradox.  The  ragged  Philosophers.  Tout-le 
Noir's  wife.  His  apostrophe  to  the  Devil.  Vendetta.  "  Amen,  Selah ! 
Selah,  Amen  !  "  —  The  Spaniard.  "  A  pint's  a  pound  the  world  around." 
Conspiracy.     The    dark  gentleman.     Babbling.     Where   it  led  a  fast  young 

man.     Counterfeit  coin. The  Chateau  Blanc.     Extraordinary  adventure. 

Discovery,    a  ruse,    escape.  —  Result  No.  1. Menilmontant.    The  Mossy 

stone.     The  frightful  spectre  of  the  Mill.     The  eyeless  ghost.     More  mutton 

mystery.      The  Robbery.     Rogues    Surprised. Gustaye    Gautier,  and 

Baupry  the  Barber  —  thrilling.  Alaric's  false  vengeance.  Windfalls. 
Tenipus  is  fugiting.  Lottery  —  the  Prize.  The  belt  of  gold.  The  Barber 
chair.  Agitation!  Agitating!! The  Master  stroke.  Baudry's  Philoso- 
phy. Caius  Curtius  and  the  Sabine  Queen.  The  picture  on  the  wall.  Pan- 
egyric on  Benedict  Arnold.  Terrific  scene.  The  Red  Bath — Le  Marche 
du  Temple.  Mons.  Jasper.  Bisnet  and  the  Dentist. Aline.  The  Bur- 
glary.     Mince  Pies.     The  two   masks.     What  happened. "  The  dying 

part  of  death's  what  troubles  me."  Repentance  too  late.  Twenty  pounds 
of  mutton,  and  Ponto  the  dog.  "No.  27  Passage  de  Valois,  Palaise  Royale." 
Passports.      Axles.     Eire    Fiends' revel. Baron- Admiral  Vogemoff"  pro- 


22 

* 

poses  to  eat  no  chops,  but  tell  a  tale.  The  preconcerted  signal.  Inquest. 
"Witnesses.  Revelry  by  night.  The  Admiral's  Thrilling  Story.  Storm 
at  Sea  —  wreck.  The  Fever  Dream  —  startling.  Woman.  Sacred  Mat- 
ters vs.  Grampus  Steaks.  Ground  sharks.  An  Encounter.  Head  Soup. 
The  Banquet  of  Horror.  "The  Man  in  red  on  the  Pont  des  Arts. —  The  bot- 
tle of  cutlets.  Arrest.  Listening  —  Chemistry  rare.  Baron's  capital  idea.  A 
cold  meat  with  hot  adjuncts.     The  trial.     Baudry's   despair.     Winnie  turns 

fool.     Curious  French   Law-facts.      Three   good  people   turn   Vandals. 

"  They  wept  beneath  the  willow."  Prison  of  La  Roquette.  What  all  who 
ever  saw  the  writer  well  know.  The  Dungeon.  Prisons,  prisoners  and  sen- 
tences.    To  Legislators.     What  hearts  were  made  for.     An  attack  on, 

and  defence  of,   the  Devil. Cleparsse's  adventures.     Thrilling   ones. 

Story  of  the  Turk,  Hijji  Moolik  and  Mohammed.  Moolik  changed  to 
a  woman. Living  a  hundred  years  in  thirty  seconds. Total  de- 
pravity — Judgment  day.  The  Sheik-al  Islam  and  his  beautiful  niece.  A 
love  tale.  We  pity  Cleparsse.  Love  —  a  cannibal's  definition.  Trance 
—  Doom  —  chaunt  —  the  accuser.  Rights  of  Man.  Triumphant  end  of 
judgment  vision. Passion.  Weakness.  Ingratitude.  Gold.  Cle- 
parsse   on   the    Negro   race.      New    ideas.      Sangs-  Melees.      The    Negress 

betrays    Antoine.       Ambush.     The    fight. The   drama  becomes   thrill- 

ingly  acmetical.  Escape  to  Caboul.  Persia,  Teheran.  The  red-garbed 
astrologer.  "  And  what,  '\  I  gasped,  "  was  this  man's  name?  " 
"Man,"  replied  he,  "  I  tell  you  it  was  no  man,  i<  was  the  Devil!"  Dhoula 
Bel  and  the  Butcher.  Astounding  exhibition.  The  Devil  a  perfect  gentle- 
man.    Only  chance.     A  tale  of  Love.     The  Angel  and  the  fiend. Dhoula 

raises  the  dead.  Contest.  Crime  vs.  Sorcery.  The  trial  by  Magic.  Excite- 
ment. Strange  accusation.  The  skin  of  a  black  cat.  The  cavern  and  the 
beam.     The   Mollah   loses   his   head.     The   tomb  of  Solyman.      Plato  and 

Crito.     Rosicrucia.  Magnificent  Speech  —  and  possibility. Temptation. 

Agrippa.     The  Devil  and  the  Black  Dog.     Black  and  Evil,  proved  white  and 

good.      Logic,    by    a    master.     Two    roads. Philosophical.       Practical. 

Startling.  New  Theory  of  the  tides.  True.  What  will  frighten  you,  —  per- 
haps. End  of  Modern  Logic.  Dhoula  Bel  on  Manias.  Profundities.  The 
Elixir  of  Life.  Astounding  revelation  and  offer.  The  "  Double."  The 
Fire  lines  — and  warning. 

The  Quarrel  and  Threat.     Bel  proves  Bullet-proof.     The  Sultan's  Dream. 

"  By  Allah,  he  has  no  shadow !"    Fearful  visitation  at  La  Roquette. Yet 

more  thrilling.  Is  Conscience  an  innate  principle?  Singular  adventure  in 
Burlington.  "Guilty!"  Madness.  The  leap  into  the  river  of  flame! 
Esthetics   of  a   Cannibal.     Alexis   Baudry  vs.  Eugene  Aram.     What   almost 

challenges   belief.       Baudry's    swoon  —  its   unearthly    cause. Curious ! 

Fascination  of  Terror.  The  Mission  of  Mystery.  A  strange  experiment  with 
a  Ghost.  The  translucent  spectre  of  Capt.  Harris.  The  slumber.  The  Enig- 
ma. Sarcasm.  Thinking.  Modern  Eolism.  Dhoula  Bel  on  Genius.  Por- 
trait of  the  World's  Queen.  "  The  Worms !  the  Worms  !  "  Thou  shalt  not 
surely  Die !"  said  Dhoula  Bel.— — Thaumaturgy. — The  sphere — Cologne,  1486. 
"What  a  pity!"  The  Devil  delights  in  Chess!"  Tribute  to  a  "Negro" 
of  Marshall,  Michigan.  Strange  talk  from  a  demon's  lips.  The  Gnome. — 
The  Phantorama.  The  Caravan.  The  Attack.  Night.  Morning.  The 
avant  courier.  The  footprints  of  God  in  his  wrath.  A  gorgeous  scene  on 
Zahara.  The  Typhoon's  breath.  "Remember  the  Oasis  of  Chelgar-Nu- 
jek !"  Fatmore  the  Pussy.  In  the  Sultan's  Harem !  Stamboul.  Another 
"  Woman."  The  Vizier  proves  to  be  a  scholar.  Fatmore  goes  to  heaven. 
The  magic  globe  revolves.  Trouble  in  Cathay.  Its  cause  and  effects.  The 
globe  reveals  American  State  Secrets.  An  Imperial  Doctor.  The  original 
Rosicrucian.  The  loves  of  Arzeezal  and  Ulalla,  The  Chinar  Leaf.  The 
famous  oriental  absorption  idea!  Events  condense,  crises  approach,  blood 
tingles,  hearts  beat,  hair  rises,  cheeks  grow  pale.  Dhoula  visits  the  Ministry 
of  Justice — works   certain  wires  and  astounds   the   Minister  who   learns* 


23 

singular  lesson.     Death-penalty.     Strange  Conceit.     Attraction  extraordinary. 

How  to  execute  a  malefactor! The  Guillotine.     8  o'clock.     Preparations. 

8^,  Baudry  leaps  the  scaffold.  Excitement,  8J.  The  Human  Hunt.  The 
Boy.  8.40,  The  explosion.  8.45,  Eobert  coupe  le  tete.  8.50,  Cleparsse 
makes  a  wager.  A  terrible  huntsman  joins  the  chase.  The  halt  before  the 
tomb.  9  o'clock.  The  capture.  Baudry's  Execution.  Cleparsse  wins.  The 
Baron  gets  in  trouble.  The  Minister  "  finds  an  excuse,"  and  Cleparsse  escapes 
to  Brest.     A  new  and  startling  light  is  thrown  on  Dhoula  Bel. 

Chapter  Last.  Close  of  the  Drama.  Maurice  becomes  a  Count  of 
Romagna.  Marriage.  Discoveries !  Alaric.  "  Remember  the  Oasis  of 
Chelgar  Nujek. 

Supplementary  Chapter.  "Editorial." — About  the  Rosicrucians.  Let- 
ter of  a  skeptical  Briton  concerning  the  author ,  and  all  sorts  of  magic  he 
derides.  The  author's  letter  to  a  friend.  The  Sequel.  "The  Wonderful 
6tory  of  Ravalette."*    Einis.  t 

*  Ravalette  solves  the  Dhoula  Bel  mystery.  See  advertisement  in  this 
list.  The  price  of  Dhoula  Bel  will  be  $2.25,  postpaid  to  any  address,  direct 
from  the  Randolph  Publishing  Co.,  Boston,  Mass.,  only. 


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